Tag: People of Manipur Protection Bill

People of Manipur Protection Bill – Lost in Translation: Linda Chhakchhuak

By Linda Chhakchhuak 07 September, 2015 Countercurrents.org Some folklore say that Manipur is land of the three brothers. They are the Meitei, Naga and the Kuki communities. But as most

Manipur police truck has been burnt down by the agitators on the road at Churachandpur

Manipur police truck has been burnt down by the agitators on the road at Churachandpur
Photo: Deepak Shijagurumayum

By Linda Chhakchhuak

07 September, 2015
Countercurrents.org

Some folklore say that Manipur is land of the three brothers. They are the Meitei, Naga and the Kuki communities. But as most brotherhood stories go they inevitably ended up disagreeing and quarrelling over the inheritance left by their fathers. This myth seems to sum up the history of this troubled northeastern state of India which is once again engulfed in blood, soot and tears.

This being an age in which the information highway passes through almost every hand with a mobile phone, the war cries, chest thumping and ill conceived rumors were mass knowledge in a span of few minutes, each post more virulent than the earlier one igniting ire. Not too soon after the by now famous three Bills were passed in the Manipur Legislative Assembly on August 31, the house of a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) went up in flames. Homes of Manipur’s health minister Phungzathang Tonsing and five other MLAs were set afire during the protests. Eight persons died in the subsequent mob quelling actions by the state police.

The “angry mob” was people of the hills districts mad at their own tribal MLAs for not standing up against the three Bills which they claimed was a deviously diabolical game to take away their land rights and making them strangers in their own homeland.

The three Bills are The Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh) Amendment Bill 2015 (MLRLR Bill 2015), The Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015 and The Manipur Shops and Establishments Act (Second) Amendment Bill 2015, collectively meant to be the Government of Manipur’s solution to the months long demand for implementation of Inner Line Permit system by the Meitei organizations to protect them from the high rate of influx of outsiders. The states of Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh have the ILP system which are British enactments made for their own benefit but vaunted as a wall against assimilation from outsiders today.

Obviously the polity is so steeped in local conspiracy theory that common people have not a shred of trust left in the persons they themselves had voted to represent them. On the other hand neither did the representatives or the Government make any effort to get public opinion before legislating on such a sensitive issue. That cost them their homes and credibility. But did people understand what they were they out in the streets for, braving bullets and death?

The MLRLR Bill 2015 clearly outlines the unenviable situation of the Meitei people, who inhabit the valley portion of the Manipur state. The state is 90 percent hills and 10 percent plains. But demography wise, the valley is packed with 60 percent of the total population of the state (27 lakhs plus). The density 731 persons as opposed to 61 persons in the hills just go to show what the valley people are up against. Under the main 1960 MRLR Act, Scheduled Tribes of the state who are native of the hills can buy land and settle down in the plains. On the other hand the plains based Meitei people are forbidden to acquire land in the hills by this same law. This same Law permits the Scheduled Tribe (ST) to sell off their lands in the valley with the provision that if they are selling it to a non-Scheduled Tribe it can be done only with the consent of the Deputy Commissioner. This would mean that if they are disposing it off to another Scheduled Tribe person, then it would not need any consent of the DC.

What seems to be happening as can be surmised from reading between the lines of the MRLR Amendment Bill 2015 is that there is an influx of ‘outsiders’, not so much as that of non-tribals from outside the state, but also of persons of affiliated kins-tribes from across the network of Kuki-Chin-Mizo community as well as Nagas from neighboring borders whether it is from Mizoram, Nagaland, Assam and Myanmar. Affiliated and based on close-knit kinship systems it is impossible to differentiate the ‘native ST’ from the ‘outsider Tribes’ in the state where the buying and selling of land may be happening. This is a cause of concern for the valley inhabitants of the Meitei heritage, who are struggling to keep their ancestral lands from slipping away right under their noses. They are a beleaguered people hemmed in by dozens of problems, the least of them being officially categorized as “non-tribal” , settled on the fulcrum of a tribal volcano of resentment. (Long ago they refused to be clubbed under the category of “Tribe” which they want reversed now but it is another complicated
story.)

Instead of directly dealing with the issue of influx, the MRLR (Seventh) Amendment Bill2015 seeks to curtail this transfer by invoking sale against the “Non Manipur Person”(NMP). The amendment is to ‘regulate the sale of land to Non Manipur Persons of the state so that the limited land in the valley is available to the permanent residents of the state in the interests of the general public.” From now on any sale and transfer of land in the valley to Non Manipur Persons of the state, firms, institutions or any other entities intending to purchase land will be done only after getting state government approval. This is actually a cry for space and the plight of the growing population of Meitei people and the other non-tribal residents of the tiny valley jostling for space with the Scheduled tribe people who have the upper hand as far as the right to buy or sell land in the state is concerned.

The MRLR (Seventh) Amendment 2015 is supported by The Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015. The objective of this Bill is to regulate the entry and exit of Non Manipur Persons and tenants. It defines who are the “Manipur People” in Clause 2 section (b) which says “b) “Manipur people” means Persons of Manipur whose name are in the National Register of Citizens, 1951 Census Report 1951 and Village Directory of 1951 and their descendants who have contributed to the collective social, cultural and economic life of Manipur;. This is the clause which has raised mayhem among the Kuki affiliate tribes and the Nagas who say, rightly, that during the early fifties there was hardly any infrastructure or government presence capable of capturing the whole population of the region in a register.

But these misgivings should have melted as the Bill carries a caveat in Paragraph 8 which unequivocally states that the persons to be exempted under the provisions of this Bill are “the native people of the state of Manipur.” The Bill does not give details about this, but going by definition by the heavyweight expert on Manipur, T C Hodson it refers to the Meitei, Kuki and Naga of the state.

Predictably, politicians of all hues and categories from the inside the state and the neighboring regions of Manipur have lost no time in fishing in troubled waters of Manipur. They should know better as the same equations of conflict are just a spark away in their own homes and states.

(Linda Chhakchhuak is an independent Journalist and anthropologist, based in Shillong, Meghalaya)

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/09/people-of-manipur-protection-bill-lost-in-translation-linda-chhakchhuak/

‘Us’, ‘them’ and an elusive peace – Dr. Malem Ningthouja

Manipur has often been the setting for violent agitations, with those behind them demanding the implementation of an Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in order to define and protect “insiders”

Meitei and Kabui women stage protest demanding Inner Line Permit System at Konung Mamang in Manipur

Meitei and Kabui women stage protest demanding Inner Line Permit System at Konung Mamang in Manipur

Manipur has often been the setting for violent agitations, with those behind them demanding the implementation of an Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in order to define and protect “insiders” from buying up land on the one hand, and from the unregulated entry of “outsiders” on the other. All this can be traced to the core — in the agitations of 1920, 1935, and 1965, when sections targeted the “outsider” monopoly in trade. The agitations, in 1980, 1994, and from 2006 onwards, have been primarily against unregulated immigrants who bought up land and immovable properties.

The agitations have been motivated by the situation that has set alarm bells ringing following unrestrained demographic pressure by “outsiders” and the need for an ILP as it exists in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland. The ILP is required for ‘other’ Indian citizens to enter Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram. The objective has been to prevent outsiders from buying up land and owning natural resources in Manipur. But these stirs have been confined to the Manipur valley, which is about 9 per cent of the geographical area and where 61.54 per cent of the enumerated population (Census 2001) comprises the majority community Meitei, tribals and others living together. Interpretations of the campaign have been along communal lines, probably because it was concentrated in the valley and led by Meitei-based organisations.

Geo-community projection

The apparent Meitei orientation of the agitation has been obvious since minimal tribal presence in the valley has been juxtaposed with Meitei predominance and tribal organisations in the hills that have deliberately maintained an opaqueness about a supporting role. A visible role for the Meitei is clear as defending the territorial integrity of Manipur is dear to them and as they have been the front runners in being associated with other popular movements to protect land and resources from being consumed by controversial projects.

The ILP agitation has been the brainchild of Meitei organisations for two basic reasons. First, its geographical epicentre has been the valley where there has been increasing pressure on land as a result of population growth. This includes migrations by outsiders and continuous “land grabbing” by the government for the setting up of military establishments and other infrastructure, which led to systematic reduction of areas under primary economic activities. Second, Meiteis have been in the fore front of this as despite their known achievements in arts and culture, sport and other skills, they are deeply apprehensive of being marginalised and facing insecurity in Manipur.

This needs to be explained in detail. Despite the perception that identifies the Meitei with the valley, in reality, the valley is liberally open to all who can buy and own land and resources. This situation is what has promoted the large-scale migration of tribals and outsiders from other parts of India and also Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh. It is a one way migration that has deeply affected the psyche of many Meiteis, as they, as a result of being clubbed with non-tribals, are now constitutionally not permitted to own land both in the vast tracts of government reserved areas in the valley and in the hills of Manipur. However, the Meiteis consider the migration of tribals as a sign of integration and do not oppose it; what they are critical of and apprehensive about are the ‘outsiders’.

A form of restraint

Many Meiteis are worried that the numerical strength and growth of outsiders have now reached alarming proportions and there is a situation where they outnumber several small communities in Manipur; according to the 2001 census, there are 9.18 lakh Meiteis and others, 6.70 lakh tribals and 7.04 lakh outsiders. They predict a socio, cultural and economic domination by outsiders as a result of large-scale migration, especially after the extension of railway lines, trans-Asian highways and the expansion of market corridors towards Southeast Asian countries. They are also worried about unrestrained land grabbing in Manipur to facilitate hydro-electric projects, mining, and also oil exploration and drilling at the cost of the people and the ecology. Many have upheld that the implementation of the ILP or a similar law can act as a form of restraint to unregulated immigration and also prevent outsiders and companies/industry from taking control over the land and resources, especially in the valley, where there has been no protective law ever since the permit system was lifted by the Government of India in November 1950.

Following violent agitations that have often lasted months, the Government of Manipur and the Joint Committee on the Inner Line Permit System in Manipur (JCILPS) arrived at an agreement. Thus, on August 31, 2015, the Manipur Legislative Assembly passed three Bills, which were not to the complete satisfaction of pro-ILP sections. These are the Protection of Manipur People Bill 2015, which has fixed 1951 as the base year to detect outsiders; the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Amendment Bill 2015, and the Manipur Shops and Establishments Bill 2015. These Bills are being strongly opposed by the ‘tribal’ organisations in the Manipur hill districts, particularly those of the Kuki Chin Mizo-based organisations, and which have now been supported by Naga-based organisations as well.

Inter-community tensions

Agitators blocking the road by burning at churachandpur

Agitators blocking the road by burning at churachandpur.
Photo: Deepak Shijagurumayum

Kuki organisations have opposed the ILP movement from spreading in Churachandpur and Chandel districts, which led to a violent clash on August 18, at the border town of Moreh. They have charged the Bills as being evidence of Meitei expansionism in the hills to expel a large section of Kukis. The propaganda has been appealing to many who are unhappy with the anti-Kuki stance and ‘refugee’ tag attributed to them by individuals from other communities. There has also been rivalry between Kuki underground organisations and those who have been identified as being with other communities. There could also be an element of fear as many of them — either people who might have migrated after 1951, or those whose lineages might not have been recorded in the list criteria — could be treated as outsiders. Other tribes have also expressed similar concerns.

The overall projection of the Bills as being pro-Meitei fails to holistically interpret the limitations of the cut-off year of 1951. This provision actually affects all, including some sections of the Meiteis and others who came to Manipur after 1951. It will also be practically difficult to detect and deport migrants who have close ethnic bonds with one or other ‘indigenous’ communities. But the polemics of insecurity have interplayed with the propaganda that the Manipur Land Revenue and Reform Act 1960 has been extended to the hill districts, which is untrue as there is no amendment in the territorial extent of the said Act.

BSF's gypsy has been burnt down by the agitators inside the Churachandpur hospital

BSF’s gypsy has been burnt down by the agitators inside the Churachandpur hospital
Photo: Deepak Shijagurumayum

The recent tensions, and which have been extensively reported in the media, might not have occurred had the Government of Manipur dealt with the situation in a better way. Instead of fully relying on the consent of the tribal MLAs, it could have also consulted the Hill Areas Committee or other responsible ‘tribal’ organisations in order to resolve any misunderstanding, before passing the Bills. On the other hand, neither the organisation that had led the ILP movement nor the tribal organisations who protested against the Bills had approached each other for mutual consent in this regard. The Kuki and Naga organisations were not insensitive to the primary objective of the cut-off year of 1951, as being primarily to target the ethno-culturally, distinguishable outsiders from other parts of India, Nepal and Bangladesh. They wanted to magnify the controversies arising from these Bills in order to invoke community sentiment, consolidate their respectively fractured communities, and to intensify the demand for either VI Schedule status for the tribes or different administrative systems for Kukis and Nagas. In this, there is tactical unity between Naga and Kuki organisations. This is understandable in the context of Naga enthusiasm towards the speeding up of some kind of pan-Naga integration under the proposed framework of the recent Peace Accord. This is something that the Kuki organisations are concerned about as this inspires the ‘Kuki’-based undergrounds that are under the Suspension of Order (SoO) with the government, to speed up their agenda to have either Pan Zomi Reunification or autonomous administration. The recently leaked Kuki National Organisation’s proposal to the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) or NSCN-IM asserts: “Historically, the [Meetei or Manipur] Kingdom consisted of the valley areas, which today form the valley districts of Manipur… The Kuki and Naga peoples shall mutually respect one another’s identity and territory and maintain the best of fraternal relations and work together to preserve peace in the land and usher in progress and human welfare in the Kuki and Naga states.”

Now, when tensions have been fanned, there seems to be the role of certain vested political groups to add fuel to the fire in order to magnify the issue of unrest, and, in turn, use this as a reason to justify the imposition of President’s rule in order to unseat the incumbent Congress government. In this there is an interplay of political demagogy, adventurism and speculation. Unrest, rioting and repression have led to a heavy toll in terms of civilian life, the destruction of property and a creation of tension. If the Bills are the issue, is there no room to either clear the misunderstandings or add some clauses in the Bills to resolve the tension? If the Bills are just the spark, what role should the Government of India be playing to scale down the tensions? The question now is this: who will negotiate for peace with whom, at what cost, and for what purpose?

Malem Ningthouja

Malem Ningthouja

(Dr. Ningthouja is a Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, and the author of three books on Manipur.)

** The article was first published in The Hindu and reproduced in KanglaOnline with permission from the author.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/09/us-them-and-an-elusive-peace-dr-malem-ningthouja/

Condolence To Churachandpur Victims And Solidarity To People’s Democratic Struggle

We express our heartfelt condolence to the untimely demise of Kuki brethren, who lost their precious lives in the course of series of unfortunate incidents in Churachandpur District (Manipur: India):

We express our heartfelt condolence to the untimely demise of Kuki brethren, who lost their precious lives in the course of series of unfortunate incidents in Churachandpur District (Manipur: India): the two persons who were burnt alive, one who succumbed to an accident injury, and five others who were killed in the repression. We share the grievances of the families and pray for the departed souls to rest in peace. We also convey our goodwill message to all the injured persons to recover soon.

We are aware of the restive situation erupted from 31 August 2015 onwards, against the three bills recently passed by the Government of Manipur; which has now spread like wildfire in the Manipur Hills. About 13 days before, the incident in Moreh Town on 18 August was a clear signal that any political decision that may encapsulate the entire Manipur, if there is no deliberate policy agenda to make it become a matter of contention and unrest, must first of all fulfil prior informed consent of the peoples for whom the decision has to be taken. The government, however, have always acted above community or popular conscience, as a result of which dissentions and unrests have become the order of the day. We wonder if the policy makers were either sincerely ignorant about the latent unrest vis-à-vis the bills or simply feigning ignorance to test the tolerance and capability of dissention or simply igniting communal flames to disunite peoples, to serve certain authoritarian interests. Although we do not approve violent mobbing, riots and destruction of properties in the name of protest; we held the government fully accountable for creating an atmosphere of mistrust and violent agitations in the Kuki clustered areas.

We are also aware that before the Kukis and the Nagas rose in protest against the bills, the peoples in the Manipur Valley had risen in agitations to demand Inner Line Permit System and they were brutally suppressed for some months. The unrest had affected the entire Manipur, particularly the larger bulk of the poor and daily wage earners. A student was killed in police action, about 450 were injured, hundreds were jailed and scores of properties were destroyed. All these could have been prevented, if the government had fulfilled the reasonable the demand without delay. After causing much damages, the government, on 31 August, passed three bills, which partly fulfilled the demands and pacified the agitation. What becomes apparent, however, is; while the wounds in the Valley have not been fully healed, the government have designed the bills in such a manner that it opened the door to different interpretations that inflicted wounds in the Hills. A Pandora’s Box is being opened to let loose sensitive issues, thereby, letting the wounded communities into tensions. In the melee of projecting community enemies, those who are in power often escaped away from the collective scrutiny of their arrogances and misrules.

We are witness to the manner the Kukis have reacted to their immediate representatives, the MLAs. The MLAs were singled out for unrepresenting the dissenting voice and their luxurious houses were burnt. Although we could not approve such violence and destructions; we cannot deny that these convey the message about the power of popular struggle. All these exemplify that the existing relation of powers, between the rulers and the ruled, can be turned into upside down, at the wink of eye, if the peoples want it. The Kuki agitation is limited in scope, as it is centred on the resentment against the bills. Given the nature of the demand and the leadership, which could not magnify beyond the higher demand for either VI Schedule or different administrative state for the Kukis: revolutionary direction towards an overall regime change, to free the society from inequality and bourgeoisie misrule, is still missing. However, the misruled Nagas, Meeteis and other minorities in Manipur have a lot to learn about their latent collective strength from this particular episode of Kuki agitation. The Kuki experience can also serve as a constant reminder to whosoever comes to the power, to have a second thought in policy framing and implementations.

Finally, we once again express our heartfelt condolence to all those from the Meeteis and Kukis who lost their precious lives in the course of different agitations in the last few months. We convey our goodwill message to all the injured persons to recover soon. We congratulate those in the Valley who have partly achieved their demand. We also express our solidarity to the democratic struggle in the Hills by those who do not want the bills to encroach upon their rights. We appeal to all, to arrive at a point, to ensure that the rights of indigenous peoples are collectively protected from the outsiders and capital intrusion that grabs land and resources in the guise of projects such as dams, mining, oil drilling, civil and defence infrastructures.

Long live people’s democratic struggle

Campaign for Peace & Democracy (Manipur)

4th September 2015

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/09/condolence-to-churachandpur-victims-and-solidarity-to-peoples-democratic-struggle/

Condolence To Churachandpur Victims And Solidarity To People’s Democratic Struggle

We express our heartfelt condolence to the untimely demise of Kuki brethren, who lost their precious lives in the course of series of unfortunate incidents in Churachandpur District (Manipur: India):

We express our heartfelt condolence to the untimely demise of Kuki brethren, who lost their precious lives in the course of series of unfortunate incidents in Churachandpur District (Manipur: India): the two persons who were burnt alive, one who succumbed to an accident injury, and five others who were killed in the repression. We share the grievances of the families and pray for the departed souls to rest in peace. We also convey our goodwill message to all the injured persons to recover soon.

We are aware of the restive situation erupted from 31 August 2015 onwards, against the three bills recently passed by the Government of Manipur; which has now spread like wildfire in the Manipur Hills. About 13 days before, the incident in Moreh Town on 18 August was a clear signal that any political decision that may encapsulate the entire Manipur, if there is no deliberate policy agenda to make it become a matter of contention and unrest, must first of all fulfil prior informed consent of the peoples for whom the decision has to be taken. The government, however, have always acted above community or popular conscience, as a result of which dissentions and unrests have become the order of the day. We wonder if the policy makers were either sincerely ignorant about the latent unrest vis-à-vis the bills or simply feigning ignorance to test the tolerance and capability of dissention or simply igniting communal flames to disunite peoples, to serve certain authoritarian interests. Although we do not approve violent mobbing, riots and destruction of properties in the name of protest; we held the government fully accountable for creating an atmosphere of mistrust and violent agitations in the Kuki clustered areas.

We are also aware that before the Kukis and the Nagas rose in protest against the bills, the peoples in the Manipur Valley had risen in agitations to demand Inner Line Permit System and they were brutally suppressed for some months. The unrest had affected the entire Manipur, particularly the larger bulk of the poor and daily wage earners. A student was killed in police action, about 450 were injured, hundreds were jailed and scores of properties were destroyed. All these could have been prevented, if the government had fulfilled the reasonable the demand without delay. After causing much damages, the government, on 31 August, passed three bills, which partly fulfilled the demands and pacified the agitation. What becomes apparent, however, is; while the wounds in the Valley have not been fully healed, the government have designed the bills in such a manner that it opened the door to different interpretations that inflicted wounds in the Hills. A Pandora’s Box is being opened to let loose sensitive issues, thereby, letting the wounded communities into tensions. In the melee of projecting community enemies, those who are in power often escaped away from the collective scrutiny of their arrogances and misrules.

We are witness to the manner the Kukis have reacted to their immediate representatives, the MLAs. The MLAs were singled out for unrepresenting the dissenting voice and their luxurious houses were burnt. Although we could not approve such violence and destructions; we cannot deny that these convey the message about the power of popular struggle. All these exemplify that the existing relation of powers, between the rulers and the ruled, can be turned into upside down, at the wink of eye, if the peoples want it. The Kuki agitation is limited in scope, as it is centred on the resentment against the bills. Given the nature of the demand and the leadership, which could not magnify beyond the higher demand for either VI Schedule or different administrative state for the Kukis: revolutionary direction towards an overall regime change, to free the society from inequality and bourgeoisie misrule, is still missing. However, the misruled Nagas, Meeteis and other minorities in Manipur have a lot to learn about their latent collective strength from this particular episode of Kuki agitation. The Kuki experience can also serve as a constant reminder to whosoever comes to the power, to have a second thought in policy framing and implementations.

Finally, we once again express our heartfelt condolence to all those from the Meeteis and Kukis who lost their precious lives in the course of different agitations in the last few months. We convey our goodwill message to all the injured persons to recover soon. We congratulate those in the Valley who have partly achieved their demand. We also express our solidarity to the democratic struggle in the Hills by those who do not want the bills to encroach upon their rights. We appeal to all, to arrive at a point, to ensure that the rights of indigenous peoples are collectively protected from the outsiders and capital intrusion that grabs land and resources in the guise of projects such as dams, mining, oil drilling, civil and defence infrastructures.

Long live people’s democratic struggle

Campaign for Peace & Democracy (Manipur)

4th September 2015

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/09/condolence-to-churachandpur-victims-and-solidarity-to-peoples-democratic-struggle/

Condolence To Churachandpur Victims And Solidarity To People’s Democratic Struggle

We express our heartfelt condolence to the untimely demise of Kuki brethren, who lost their precious lives in the course of series of unfortunate incidents in Churachandpur District (Manipur: India):

We express our heartfelt condolence to the untimely demise of Kuki brethren, who lost their precious lives in the course of series of unfortunate incidents in Churachandpur District (Manipur: India): the two persons who were burnt alive, one who succumbed to an accident injury, and five others who were killed in the repression. We share the grievances of the families and pray for the departed souls to rest in peace. We also convey our goodwill message to all the injured persons to recover soon.

We are aware of the restive situation erupted from 31 August 2015 onwards, against the three bills recently passed by the Government of Manipur; which has now spread like wildfire in the Manipur Hills. About 13 days before, the incident in Moreh Town on 18 August was a clear signal that any political decision that may encapsulate the entire Manipur, if there is no deliberate policy agenda to make it become a matter of contention and unrest, must first of all fulfil prior informed consent of the peoples for whom the decision has to be taken. The government, however, have always acted above community or popular conscience, as a result of which dissentions and unrests have become the order of the day. We wonder if the policy makers were either sincerely ignorant about the latent unrest vis-à-vis the bills or simply feigning ignorance to test the tolerance and capability of dissention or simply igniting communal flames to disunite peoples, to serve certain authoritarian interests. Although we do not approve violent mobbing, riots and destruction of properties in the name of protest; we held the government fully accountable for creating an atmosphere of mistrust and violent agitations in the Kuki clustered areas.

We are also aware that before the Kukis and the Nagas rose in protest against the bills, the peoples in the Manipur Valley had risen in agitations to demand Inner Line Permit System and they were brutally suppressed for some months. The unrest had affected the entire Manipur, particularly the larger bulk of the poor and daily wage earners. A student was killed in police action, about 450 were injured, hundreds were jailed and scores of properties were destroyed. All these could have been prevented, if the government had fulfilled the reasonable the demand without delay. After causing much damages, the government, on 31 August, passed three bills, which partly fulfilled the demands and pacified the agitation. What becomes apparent, however, is; while the wounds in the Valley have not been fully healed, the government have designed the bills in such a manner that it opened the door to different interpretations that inflicted wounds in the Hills. A Pandora’s Box is being opened to let loose sensitive issues, thereby, letting the wounded communities into tensions. In the melee of projecting community enemies, those who are in power often escaped away from the collective scrutiny of their arrogances and misrules.

We are witness to the manner the Kukis have reacted to their immediate representatives, the MLAs. The MLAs were singled out for unrepresenting the dissenting voice and their luxurious houses were burnt. Although we could not approve such violence and destructions; we cannot deny that these convey the message about the power of popular struggle. All these exemplify that the existing relation of powers, between the rulers and the ruled, can be turned into upside down, at the wink of eye, if the peoples want it. The Kuki agitation is limited in scope, as it is centred on the resentment against the bills. Given the nature of the demand and the leadership, which could not magnify beyond the higher demand for either VI Schedule or different administrative state for the Kukis: revolutionary direction towards an overall regime change, to free the society from inequality and bourgeoisie misrule, is still missing. However, the misruled Nagas, Meeteis and other minorities in Manipur have a lot to learn about their latent collective strength from this particular episode of Kuki agitation. The Kuki experience can also serve as a constant reminder to whosoever comes to the power, to have a second thought in policy framing and implementations.

Finally, we once again express our heartfelt condolence to all those from the Meeteis and Kukis who lost their precious lives in the course of different agitations in the last few months. We convey our goodwill message to all the injured persons to recover soon. We congratulate those in the Valley who have partly achieved their demand. We also express our solidarity to the democratic struggle in the Hills by those who do not want the bills to encroach upon their rights. We appeal to all, to arrive at a point, to ensure that the rights of indigenous peoples are collectively protected from the outsiders and capital intrusion that grabs land and resources in the guise of projects such as dams, mining, oil drilling, civil and defence infrastructures.

Long live people’s democratic struggle

Campaign for Peace & Democracy (Manipur)

4th September 2015

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/09/condolence-to-churachandpur-victims-and-solidarity-to-peoples-democratic-struggle/

Condolence To Churachandpur Victims And Solidarity To People’s Democratic Struggle

We express our heartfelt condolence to the untimely demise of Kuki brethren, who lost their precious lives in the course of series of unfortunate incidents in Churachandpur District (Manipur: India):

We express our heartfelt condolence to the untimely demise of Kuki brethren, who lost their precious lives in the course of series of unfortunate incidents in Churachandpur District (Manipur: India): the two persons who were burnt alive, one who succumbed to an accident injury, and five others who were killed in the repression. We share the grievances of the families and pray for the departed souls to rest in peace. We also convey our goodwill message to all the injured persons to recover soon.

We are aware of the restive situation erupted from 31 August 2015 onwards, against the three bills recently passed by the Government of Manipur; which has now spread like wildfire in the Manipur Hills. About 13 days before, the incident in Moreh Town on 18 August was a clear signal that any political decision that may encapsulate the entire Manipur, if there is no deliberate policy agenda to make it become a matter of contention and unrest, must first of all fulfil prior informed consent of the peoples for whom the decision has to be taken. The government, however, have always acted above community or popular conscience, as a result of which dissentions and unrests have become the order of the day. We wonder if the policy makers were either sincerely ignorant about the latent unrest vis-à-vis the bills or simply feigning ignorance to test the tolerance and capability of dissention or simply igniting communal flames to disunite peoples, to serve certain authoritarian interests. Although we do not approve violent mobbing, riots and destruction of properties in the name of protest; we held the government fully accountable for creating an atmosphere of mistrust and violent agitations in the Kuki clustered areas.

We are also aware that before the Kukis and the Nagas rose in protest against the bills, the peoples in the Manipur Valley had risen in agitations to demand Inner Line Permit System and they were brutally suppressed for some months. The unrest had affected the entire Manipur, particularly the larger bulk of the poor and daily wage earners. A student was killed in police action, about 450 were injured, hundreds were jailed and scores of properties were destroyed. All these could have been prevented, if the government had fulfilled the reasonable the demand without delay. After causing much damages, the government, on 31 August, passed three bills, which partly fulfilled the demands and pacified the agitation. What becomes apparent, however, is; while the wounds in the Valley have not been fully healed, the government have designed the bills in such a manner that it opened the door to different interpretations that inflicted wounds in the Hills. A Pandora’s Box is being opened to let loose sensitive issues, thereby, letting the wounded communities into tensions. In the melee of projecting community enemies, those who are in power often escaped away from the collective scrutiny of their arrogances and misrules.

We are witness to the manner the Kukis have reacted to their immediate representatives, the MLAs. The MLAs were singled out for unrepresenting the dissenting voice and their luxurious houses were burnt. Although we could not approve such violence and destructions; we cannot deny that these convey the message about the power of popular struggle. All these exemplify that the existing relation of powers, between the rulers and the ruled, can be turned into upside down, at the wink of eye, if the peoples want it. The Kuki agitation is limited in scope, as it is centred on the resentment against the bills. Given the nature of the demand and the leadership, which could not magnify beyond the higher demand for either VI Schedule or different administrative state for the Kukis: revolutionary direction towards an overall regime change, to free the society from inequality and bourgeoisie misrule, is still missing. However, the misruled Nagas, Meeteis and other minorities in Manipur have a lot to learn about their latent collective strength from this particular episode of Kuki agitation. The Kuki experience can also serve as a constant reminder to whosoever comes to the power, to have a second thought in policy framing and implementations.

Finally, we once again express our heartfelt condolence to all those from the Meeteis and Kukis who lost their precious lives in the course of different agitations in the last few months. We convey our goodwill message to all the injured persons to recover soon. We congratulate those in the Valley who have partly achieved their demand. We also express our solidarity to the democratic struggle in the Hills by those who do not want the bills to encroach upon their rights. We appeal to all, to arrive at a point, to ensure that the rights of indigenous peoples are collectively protected from the outsiders and capital intrusion that grabs land and resources in the guise of projects such as dams, mining, oil drilling, civil and defence infrastructures.

Long live people’s democratic struggle

Campaign for Peace & Democracy (Manipur)

4th September 2015

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/09/condolence-to-churachandpur-victims-and-solidarity-to-peoples-democratic-struggle/