The Global Liangmai Forum (GLF) condemns the Protection of Manipur People (PMP) Bill, 2015, The Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (7th Amendment) Bill, 2015 and the Manipur Shops and Establishments (2nd Amendment), Bill, 2015 passed by the Manipur Legislative Assembly on the 31st August, 2015 on the pretext of introducing the Inner Line Permit (ILP) System in Manipur. Time and again the Government of Manipur has tried to mislead the tribals by clarifying that the bills will not affect the tribals of Manipur accusing the tribals of being misinformed by rumours and that the bills should be read section by section, etc. as if there is nothing wrong with these bills. Hence, the GLF as a body that believes in democratic deliberation, dialogue and critical reasoning is compelled to decode the deceits and substantiate as to how and why these bills are totally against the interests of the tribals in Manipur:(a) As per the special provision of article 371c of the constitution of India, the Hill Areas Committee (HAC) comprising of the MLAs from the Hill areas of Manipur is constituted by the president of India and it is empowered to deliberate on legislative proposals especially related to scheduled matters including the allotment, occupation or use or the setting apart of land, forest, the constitution and functioning of the district council and village committee or councils, social customs, development and economic planning, inheritance of property, etc. and to monitor the law making and administration of the hill areas. However, the bills which clearly impinge upon these scheduled matters were not referred to the HAC for its consideration and report to the Assembly as per the Rules 159 and 160 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Manipur Assembly on the pretext that these bills are Money Bills.
(b) The Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015 clearly defines “Manipur People” as persons of Manipur whose names are in the National Register of Citizens, 1951, Census Report of 1951 and Village Directory of 1951 and their descendants who have contributed to the collective Social, cultural and economic life of Manipur. The criteria for defining Manipur people are highly objectionable because Manipur as a state was created only in 1972. Leave alone in 1951, till now the reach of the administration in the hill areas is still negligible in some of the remote areas where there is no road or electricity. In the absence of clearly maintained records, the tribals will easily become non-Manipur people going by these criteria for defining Manipur people. Though the bill under section 8 (a) mentions “native people” of the state of Manipur, it remains unclear as to what and to whom it refers to and it looks like it is a clever ploy to create smokescreen so as to fool the tribals that they will not be affected. The irony on the other hand is that section 10 (1) of the bill empowers the state to make rules to carry out the purpose of this act by notification in the official gazette and hence the devil lies in the operationalization of the bills as the state can make rules to suit its interests to either include or exclude any group of people as Manipur people or native people. Section 9 gives full immunity for the state as no suit or legal proceedings can be taken up against the state government and concerned officer for anything which is done in good faith or intended to be done under this act. Besides, section 11 of the bill specifies that any modifications to remove the difficulties in giving effect to the provisions of this act/bill can be done only within two years from the commencement of the act and such modifications or directions to remove difficulties in the bill should not be inconsistent with the provisions of the act.
Hence, the bill will serve only the interest of the majority community and is clearly beyond the judicial review and power for amendments whatsoever. Therefore, it is very clear that there is no way of securing the interest and rights of the tribals under this bill if it becomes an act. Far from the claims and justifications that the hill areas will not be affected in any negative manner, the Bill clearly states that Manipur is one of the hill states of the North-Eastern region of India. Section 1 clause (2) categorically states that it shall extend to the whole state of Manipur. Unless the definition of Manipur is limited to mean only the valley areas, the argument that the bill will not affect the hill area does not hold water. It must be noted here that Sub-clause (2) of article 371C states that “the president alone has, by order, the power to declare the area as hill area”. The government of Manipur cannot, by any order or act, annul the order of the president and cede the hill areas to be under the jurisdiction of the valley areas’ administration.
(c) However, in the name of introducing ILP system, the Government of Manipur has passed The Manipur
Land Revenue and Land Reforms (7th amendment) Bill, 2015 as a ploy to grab the tribal lands in the Hill areas. It is instructive to note here that there is no separate ILP bill as such and unless the three bills are read along with the Principal MLR & LR Act, 1960, the impending disastrous consequences of these bills cannot be understood clearly. The proposed 7th Amendment of MLR & LR Act, bill, 2015 has deceitfully inserted the words “valley areas” which were not there in the Principal Act, 1960 under section 158 relating to special provision for protection of the tribal lands in the hills and the power of the HAC and the district council to allot or not to allot lands in the hill districts has been nullified by inserting sections 14A and 14B to section 14 of the principal act, 1960. Given these modifications and the power of the state government to extend MLR & LR Act, 1960 to the hill areas by virtue of the proviso vide Manipur Act No 13 of 1976 to sub-section of section 1 which now reads as, “it extends to
the whole state of Manipur except the hill areas thereof: provided that the state government may, by notification in the official gazette, extend the whole or part of this act to any of the hill areas of Manipur also as may be specified in such notification” , the tribals can be easily dispossessed of their land and resources by mere notification in the state gazette. The proposed MLR & LR (7th Amendment Bill), 2015 will enable anyone who qualifies as Manipur People including non-tribals to buy lands in the hill areas by circumventing the district councils in the tribal areas subject to the approval of the State cabinet which is a gross violation of the provision of Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council Act, 1971.
(d) The contents of the bills are outrageously self-contradictory too. The introductory note of the PMP bill states “to provide protection, maintenance of socio-economic and cultural balance of the Manipur People and for maintenance of peace and public order in the State of Manipur and regulation of entry into and exit from Manipur…”, and it ends up totally violating the rights and ignoring the interest of the tribal minorities of the State. The clarification given by the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Government of Manipur that the definition of “Manipur People” under section 2 (b) is intended only for outsiders/non- Manipur Persons and the bill being titled as, “The Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015” seems as if it is meant to protect only the outsiders/non Manipur people and not the indigenous tribals of the state.
Besides, in the MLR & LR (7th Amendment) Bill, 2015 the introductory note dwells on the problems of the valley area of Manipur and it ends up declaring Manipur as a “hill state” which seems to be an attempt at backdoor entry for the majority community to become Scheduled Tribes of the state so as to qualify themselves as indigenous people as is clearly seen in their demand to be recognized as ST. (e) The Global Liangmai Forum (GLF) condemns the merciless killing of 9 (nine) defenseless tribal protesters in Churachanpur district, Manipur by the State machinery of Manipur. The forum also demands that three anti-tribal bills be repealed immediately and we appeal to the Governor of Manipur to ensure that the HAC functions properly and that the State Government gives justice to the 9 departed souls who died as martyrs for all the tribal people of Manipur. The GLF would like to categorically state that the MLAs are people’s representative and they are not the owners of the lands and resources of the Tribal people which are being protected under article 371C of the Indian constitution. We therefore demand that the Tribal legislators who had signed and approved the bills to be passed should immediately step down from the membership of the Legislative Assembly of Manipur as they have failed so miserably to carry out their responsibilities of safeguarding the rights and aspirations of the people who voted them to become the members of the Legislative Assembly.
Yours faithfully,
