IMPHAL, Oct 10: The All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur (ATSUM) has appealed “to the hill people not to partake in the ongoing delimitation exercise as this would shut the doors of our constitutional rights forever”. The apex tribal student body of Manipur also appealed to the Hill Areas Committee (HAC) to immediately cease this “unconstitutional and un-mandated procedure contradicting and demeaning the purpose of the HAC”.
In a statement, the ATSUM said on Sunday that the State Government of Manipur has been asked to get the matter examined and forward a reply on priority regarding the “three controversial bills” introduced during the last Assembly session. “Fourteen tribal ex- parliamentarians comprising ex – MPs, ex – ministers and ex- MLAs ( ex – members of the HAC) sought the intervention of the President of India, Draupadi Murmuji for violating the provisions of constitutions of India particularly Article 371 C by the Government of Manipur,” the ATSUM also stated.
In a memorandum submitted to the President on August 10, 2022, the tribal ex- parliamentarians had raised serious concerns regarding the unconstitutional procedures and violation of constitutional provisions during 2nd session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly, the ATSUM statement also said. “The three bills namely (1) Bill No. 14, the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seven Amendment) Bill 2022 (2) Bill No.15, The Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council’s (Sixth Amendment) Bill 2022 and (3) Bill No. 16, The Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council’s (Seventh Amendment) Bill 2022 had bypassed the interest of the hill people and shifted the authority of the district council to the state government and undermined its mandate. The sixth Amendment was unconstitutionally passed in the guise of Money Bill and instead of tabling the already recommended bill, the government had referred a new bill to the HAC,” it added.
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According to the ATSUM, such attempts of “forcefully” overlooking the constitutional rights of HAC stated in the scheduled matters and directly shifting the mandate of the Autonomous District Council to the State Government can only be done through constitutional amendment and not by a mere State Assembly since this provision is given through Article 371 C.
On the other hand, the ATSUM said that the erstwhile Manipur (Hill Areas) Autonomous District Councils Bill 2021 was unanimously recommended by the HAC following the rules of procedure. “Yet, the State Government had without any stated mandate kept the recommended bill in abeyance and introduced another bill that was not recommended by the HAC,” it alleged.
The tribal student body said that such “blatant” overriding of Rules of Procedures and Conduct of Business rightly requires rectification through the intervention of the President. The ATSUM said it highly applauded the new President of India for promptly stepping in and initiating action to safeguard the constitutional provisions. “We hope the unconstitutional hegemonic procedures inside the state Assembly would be promptly rectified and that this would remain a deterrent,” it stated. The ATSUM then urged the state government again to respect the constitutional rights of the hill people and table the ADC Bill 2021 as assured through a Memorandum of Understanding dated November 25, 2021 signed between State Government and Tribal Students’ Organisations represented by the ATSUM, the All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM) and the Kuki Students’ Organisation-General Headquarters (KSO-GHQ).
“Considering all these circumstances, we appeal to the hill people not to partake in the ongoing delimitation exercise as this would shut the doors of our constitutional rights forever. We also appeal to the HAC to immediately cease this unconstitutional and un-mandated procedure contradicting and demeaning the purpose of the HAC,” the ATSUM added. (NNN)
