IMPHAL October 11: The Committee on Protection of Tribal Areas, Manipur (CoPTAM) has threatned to launch a series of protest if the organisation’s demands are not met by the State Government.
A press release issued in the regard by COPTAM (IPR) secretary states that the imposition of a fixed decadal population growth rate for tribal in Manipur State by the Government and subsequent steps taken by District Administrations to reduce the population by deleting some people of the District from Census records is another facet of the Government’s anti-tribal policy.
Further, it is unfortunate that the census Officials in tribal areas of Manipur continue to manipulate the census informations submitted earlier by the respective census enumerators. Thousands of structures in tribal areas as well as the tribal themselves have been unscrupulously removed from the Census Record simply to meet the SPF Governments’ desired ST population growth percentage. It is also shocking that census Officials who refused to follow the instruction to reduce the tribal growth rate are being threatened, put political pressure to either follow the instruction or sacrify their servive,the statement alleged.
The release further added that CoPTAM will, in no case tolerate the clandestine manipulation of Census by the state Government.
Moreover, the government attempted to convert Moreh village into a Municipality area against the wishes of the people. The town may be a “Census Townâ€, but it can not be a “Statutory Town†because of the fact that 75% of the people in the area are indigenous tribals who owns and managed the land according to their customs for ages. They also have three ADC Constituencies in the recent ADC election. COPTAM questions under what circumstances, Moreh can have two separateADC and municipality administrative identities, The CoPTAM shall support the demand of Hill Tribal Council(HTC), Moreh in this regard.
The statement further charged that the much hyped devolution of powers and functions in accordance with the provision of the controversial Third Amendment Acts, 2008 too is still left in the lurch.
The fact that cognizance of much provision is still shrouded with myths of controversy. This framework which supposedly was construed to address the woes of decades of misgovernance of the hill people is now substantiallizing into store house of misleading the whims and aspiration of the tribal people in question. In the given premises, it is uphold that tribal people’s woes is all the more aggravating and unable to withstand the ethos of imposed institution. A time for complete rejection of the ADCc is in the offing,the release said.
The statement mentions that COPTAM is left with no other choice than to resort to different modes of agitations in all tribal dominated area untill genuine demands are addressed appropriately by the Government and is compelled to resumed indefinite boycott call to all Government – offices, vehicles, activities, programmes and works in all the Hill Districts of Manipur from 1st October, 2010 until tangible action is initiated by the authority in this regard.
