IMPHAL, May 4: A committee represented by various tribal leaders, NGOs and Civil Society Organizations has been set up to examine and revise the proposed revision of the Manipur (VA in Hill Areas) Act 1956 and the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council Act 1971.
A statement issued by the All Tribal Chief’s Forum (ATCF), Manipur said that the Committee was set up in a consultative meeting convened on March and attended by various tribal leaders and resource persons. Meanwhile, the Government had recently formed an ‘Expert Committee’ for revision of the mentioned two Acts.
Subsequently, the ATCF intimated the State Government to include leaders/scholars who are well versed in tribal customary laws, traditional as well as cultural practices and land holding systems of the tribals of Manipur, in its Expert Committee. However, with no response from the Government so far, there was a need for formation of the Committee representing all tribes, it added.
Informing that the Committee will send its recommendation to the Government for reference, the ATCF expressed its apprehension that the Government`s proposal for introduction of Urban Planning/Development in the Hill districts under Panchayat systems may undermine the institution of chieftainship/Tribal Village Councils wherein the Chiefs/headmen are the custodians of the land use systems in the hill districts.
If the Government is so determined to uplift the backwardness of the hill districts tribals, it can enact laws and frame rules suitable for the development of the hill district other than Urban Development under Panchayat Systems, it said.
The All Tribal Chief Forum has also strongly condemned the burning down of 36 houses of Silent Village by the villagers of Seijang by taking law into their own hands.In its statement, the Forum has warned that if the lawlessness, which is an act of cowardice and inhumanity is allowed to prevail in the state preventing the law of the land to take its own course, it will further aggravate the situation. The Forum has also condemned the bomb attack carried out at the residence of IFCD Minister Ngamthang Haokip and appealed to those responsible to refrain from committing such an act of crime in the future.