IMPHAL, August 8: The People`™s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak has wished the people of Manipur on the occasion of the International Day of the World`™s Indigenous Peoples on August 9.
A statement signed by its assistant secretary publicity and propaganda, Leibak Ngakpa Luwang said that the indigenous peoples who are scattered around the world continue to survive as the small, weak and exploited communities even today.
Several indigenous communities have today become extinct while many are facing extinction due to lack of proper government policies safeguarding them, it said.
The outfit, it said is saddened by the indigenous communities of the land losing their identities due to the discrimination and exploitation.
It said the total population of the around 5000 indigenous communities in the world stands at around 37 crore which is just 5 percent of the total population of the world whereas they make-up for 15 percent of the world`™s poor population.
It said the United Nationas General Assembly on December 23, 1994 had resolved to observe the International Day of the World`™s Indigenous Peoples on August 9 marking the first day of the first meeting of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Population from August 9 to 13 in 1982.
It was first observed on August 9, 1995, the statement said.
It further continued that even though India is a signatory of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) which was adopted on September 13, 2007 by the UN General Assembly, it is yet to implement the declaration.