Send documents to NCST : MMTU to Govt
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By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jun 7: The Meitei (Meetei) Tribe Union (MMTU) has urged the State Government to comply with the intimation of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) to submit all relevant documents of the Manipur Hill Areas (Acquisition of Chief’s Rights) Act 1967 within 30 days.
Speaking to media persons at Manipur Press Club here today, MMTU general secretary (administration) Mutum Churamani stated that the State Government’s failure to implement the Act passed way back in 1967 is the root cause of all the unrest and violence besetting Manipur today.
Churamani said that the Manipur Legislative Assembly adopted a resolution on September 7, 1966 to abolish the hereditary chieftainship followed by the Kuki community.
Subsequently, the Manipur Hill Areas (Acquisition of Chief’s Rights) Bill was drafted in January 1967.
The same Bill became an Act on June 14, 1967 after it was given assent by the President of India. The Manipur Hill Areas (Acquisition of Chief’s Rights) Act was published in the State gazette on June 20, 1967, Churamani said.
Even as all preparations were completed to implement the Act, around 300 Kuki chiefs took out a rally at Imphal on June 20, 1967.
Then President Rule was imposed in Manipur on October 25, 1967 and thereafter all the copies of the Act vanished from the offices of the Government of Manipur.
At that time, T Kipgen, the first IAS officer from Manipur, was the Home Secretary. However, last year, Prof K Yugindro Singh, former acting Vice Chancellor of Manipur University, found a file containing the complete process, from the introduction of the Bill in the Manipur Assembly to publication of the gazette notification, including the file notes, on the website of the National Archives of India, Churamani said.
He said that the hereditary chieftainship which was in practice in the olden days among the Kuki communities of Burma and the North Eastern States of India has been abolished barring Manipur.
It is a matter of grave concern that the Manipur Hill Areas (Acquisition of Chief’s Rights) Act was given assent by the President of India 59 years back still remains buried and unimplemented, Churamani decried.
Saying that it would be difficult for the Government of Manipur to implement the Act without support and financial assistance from the Government of India, he urged the State Government to furnish the documents asked by the NCST and see that the Act is implemented without any further delay.
The MMTU general secretary said that hereditary Kuki and Zo chiefs in Manipur are virtually kings/dictators of the villages under their jurisdiction, exercising supreme authority in all matters, whether it be military, executive, legislative or legal matters.
Hereditary Kuki and Zo chiefs can allot land to outsiders, including foreigners.
Most sons of Kuki and Zo chiefs establish a new village to become a village chief, and illegal immigrants from other countries provide them with additional population required for the new villages. It has resulted in an alarming growth of Kuki and Zo villages in the hill districts of Manipur, he said.
IMPHAL, Jun 7: The Meitei (Meetei) Tribe Union (MMTU) has urged the State Government to comply with the intimation of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) to submit all relevant documents of the Manipur Hill Areas (Acquisition of Chief’s Rights) Act 1967 within 30 days.
Speaking to media persons at Manipur Press Club here today, MMTU general secretary (administration) Mutum Churamani stated that the State Government’s failure to implement the Act passed way back in 1967 is the root cause of all the unrest and violence besetting Manipur today.
Churamani said that the Manipur Legislative Assembly adopted a resolution on September 7, 1966 to abolish the hereditary chieftainship followed by the Kuki community.
Subsequently, the Manipur Hill Areas (Acquisition of Chief’s Rights) Bill was drafted in January 1967.
The same Bill became an Act on June 14, 1967 after it was given assent by the President of India. The Manipur Hill Areas (Acquisition of Chief’s Rights) Act was published in the State gazette on June 20, 1967, Churamani said.
Even as all preparations were completed to implement the Act, around 300 Kuki chiefs took out a rally at Imphal on June 20, 1967.
Then President Rule was imposed in Manipur on October 25, 1967 and thereafter all the copies of the Act vanished from the offices of the Government of Manipur.
At that time, T Kipgen, the first IAS officer from Manipur, was the Home Secretary. However, last year, Prof K Yugindro Singh, former acting Vice Chancellor of Manipur University, found a file containing the complete process, from the introduction of the Bill in the Manipur Assembly to publication of the gazette notification, including the file notes, on the website of the National Archives of India, Churamani said.
He said that the hereditary chieftainship which was in practice in the olden days among the Kuki communities of Burma and the North Eastern States of India has been abolished barring Manipur.
It is a matter of grave concern that the Manipur Hill Areas (Acquisition of Chief’s Rights) Act was given assent by the President of India 59 years back still remains buried and unimplemented, Churamani decried.
Saying that it would be difficult for the Government of Manipur to implement the Act without support and financial assistance from the Government of India, he urged the State Government to furnish the documents asked by the NCST and see that the Act is implemented without any further delay.
The MMTU general secretary said that hereditary Kuki and Zo chiefs in Manipur are virtually kings/dictators of the villages under their jurisdiction, exercising supreme authority in all matters, whether it be military, executive, legislative or legal matters.
Hereditary Kuki and Zo chiefs can allot land to outsiders, including foreigners.
Most sons of Kuki and Zo chiefs establish a new village to become a village chief, and illegal immigrants from other countries provide them with additional population required for the new villages. It has resulted in an alarming growth of Kuki and Zo villages in the hill districts of Manipur, he said.