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Charter of Demands submitted by JAC Against Anti-Tribal Bills

Monday, November 9, 2015

/ Published by VIRTHLI
JOINT ACTION COMMITTEE 
AGAINST ANTI-TRIBAL BILLS 
jac.tribals@gmail.com  
Lamka I November 9, 2015 

To,
The Hon'ble Chief Minister
Government of Manipur

Subject: Charter of Demands

Hon'ble Sir,

Please find enclosed herewith our Charter of Demands including the prerequisites for talks for your kind perusal and necessary action.

Yours sincerely,

(H. MANGCHINKHUP)
Chief Convenor
(DALKHOHAO CHONGLOI)
Convenor — Secretary

Enclosed:
1. Charter of Demands to the Government of Manipur
Copy to:
1. Shri Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister, Government of India.
2. Shri Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Government of India.
3. Shri R. N.Ravi, Interlocutor, Indo-Naga Peace Talks.
4. Shri Ashok Prasad, Secretary, Internal Security, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
5. Shri M. A. Ganapathy, Joint Secretary, In-charge of North East, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
6. Guard File.

Charter of Demands
to the Government of Manipur

1. The Manipur Government must call back the following bills passed by the Manipur State Assembly on the 31st August, 2015 and place it on the Chief Minister's table within five days from today.

a. The Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015
b. The Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (7th Amendment) Bill 2015
c. The Manipur Shops and Establishment Bill (2nd Amendment) Bill 2015

2. The Manipur Government must accept a representative from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India who is not lower than a Joint Secretary rank officer to witness the talks and the same shall be conveyed to the JAC as well as Ministry of Home Affairs in writing within five days from today.

3. With the Manipur Government having acknowledge their guilt for the offences they have committed against the tribal people protesting against the three anti-tribal Bills passed by the Manipur State

Assembly on 31st Augut 2015 by performing Hiamkhaam as per the tribal customary laws and traditional practices on 2nd November 2015, adn with the Joint Action Committee Against the Anti-Tribal

Bills (JAC) having accepted their acknowledgement, it is now pertinent to fulfill the tribal customary laws and traditional practices of paying luang man for the dead (the nine Tribal Martyrs) and etkolna/kepna for the maimed and injured by the Manipur Government at the earliest.

4. The talks between the Manipur Government and JAC shall be held in the presence of the representative from the Ministry of Home Affairs at any suitable location in Churachandpur District.

Upon the fulfilment of the above prerequisite, the talks between the Government of Manipur and the tribal representatives led by the JAC, in the presence of a representative from the Ministry of Home

Affairs, Government of India shall commence with the following points:

I. The Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015
1. The following exclusion clause should be inserted in the Bill: 'The Act shall not be extended within the jurisdiction of the Manipur (Hill Areas) Autonomuos District Councils as well as Hill Pocket

Villages encroached by the Panchayan Raj Institution."
2. In Clause 2(b), the definition of Manipur people should be modified as follows:
(i) The cut off year of 1951 should be modified as 1981.

Justification: Manipur attained statehood in 1972, so the first census after the statehood is the most appropriate cut-off. Before that, the State Machinery is not equipped to include all the people who

have resided in the state, especially in the hills and far-Flung areas. Putting the cut off year as 1951 will leave out genuine, bonafide residents of the State.
(ii) The requirement of registration in three Registers/Directories should be modifioed. Only inclusiol of name in the Census Register should be made sufficient based
(iii) The phrase, "who have contributed collective social, cultural and economic life of Manipur" should be deleted from the definition of Manipur people because these words are very vague and liable to be misused. How can one prove contribution to collective social, cultural and economic life of Manipur, And how can contribution to collective social, cultural and economic life of Manipur be a condition to be counted as Manipur people, This is completely illogical and needs to be deleted.

In view of the above points, the definition of Manipur people in Clause 2(b) should be modified as, 'Manipur People means Persons of Manipur whose names are in the Census Report 1981 and their descendants."

3. Definition of the term ',Native people":
(i) The term 'Native People' (of the State of Manipur) that appears in Section 8(a) of the Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015 must be clearly defined (as was done in the 'first draft', i.e., the Manipur Native People Protection Bill, 2015) by inserting additional clause for the legal protection of the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Councils within its jurisdiction; and should mean indigenous communities

(Scheduled Tribes) in the Hill Areas as well as original settlers of the valley areas in the State
(ii) Or alternatively, Clause 8 should be modified so that the provisions of the Bill are not applicable to the recognised Scheduled Tribes of Manipur by making modifications to the said clause.

Accordingly, the modified Clause 8 mentioning the 'persons to be exempted' should read as:

The provisions of this  Act shall not apply to-
(a) the native people including the recognized Scheduled Tribes of Manipur.
(b) persons employed in connection with affairs of the Union Government, the State Government, Public Undertaking and persons employed by a local authority or a body established by law with the approval of the state Government, high dignitaries, students of educational institutions situated in the state or such other persons may be determined by the State Government from time to time.

Explanation:- For the purpose of this section, produaion of a valid card issued by the concerned authority of the employee or the educational institution or such other document, evidence for such
employment or studentship.

3. The phrase 'small hill state" which appears in the statement of `Objects and Reasons' of the Bill to describe Manipur is not found in the Indian Constitution; hence, the word "hill" should be deleted from the said phrase.

II. The Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2015 
1. The following exclusion clause should be inserted in the Bill: “The Act shall not be extended within the jurisdiction of the Manipur (Hill Areas) Autonomous District Councils as well as Hill Pocket Villages encroached by the Panchayati Raj Institution."

2. The Manipur Land Revenue & revenue Act, 1960 currently extended to villages under the Autonomous District Councils vide the following orders should be cancelled:

1. 306-E-259, Feb. 26,1962; No. 142/12/60-M, February 22, 1962. ChurarAtandpur Sub-Division, No.of villages covered-89 Villages
2. 307-E-260 Feb. 26,1962; No. 142/12/60-M, February 22, 1962. Jiribam,No.of villages covered-92 villages.
3. 453 March 3, 1965; No. 138/4/64-M, February 26, 1965. Sadar Hills of Mao Sub- Division,No.of villages covered- 14 Villages
4. 124.90 Dec. I, 1964; No. l 40/12/60-M (A) November 26, 1965. Makhao Tampakk, Churachandpur Sub-Division,No.of villages covered- Makhao Tampak
5. No. 3/12/113-LRC November 14, 1978, Khoupum Valley of Tamennlong District, area covered- 809 Hectares

In short, the original status of the Principal Act shall be restored without any amendment of the then provisions of the said Act, pailicularly Sub-section (2) of Section 1 (i.e., Manipur Land Revenue & Land Reforms Act, 1960) and all the Manipur State Gazette Notification Orders pertaining to the Act as mentioned above.

3. All land records of the hill/tribal villages managed and maintained by Valley Districts (Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal and Bishnu, districts) should be restored/returned back to their respective original hill districts.

4. In the definition clause under Section 2(j) of the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960, the definition of "hill areas" should be amended and must include all those areas that were defined as "Hill Areas" as per the Manipur Legislative Assembly Hill Areas Committee Order 1972 President Promulgation, The First Schedule (See Paragraph 2(C)) where "Hill Areas" is defined as:
(1) Manipur North, Manipur East, Manipur West and Manipur South revenue districts.
(2) Chandel, Chakpikarong and Tengnouspal revenue sub-divisions of the Manipur Central revenue district.

Explanation:- Any reference to a revenue district or revenue sub-division in this schedule shall be construed as a reference to the area comprised within that district or sub-division, as the case may be, on the 1st day of April, 1972.

III. The Manipur Shops and Establishment (Second Amendment) Bill 2015
Article 3710 of the Constitution under which the Order was framed does not specify that money bills should be out of the purview of the Hill Areas Committee. Subordinate legislation framed by the
State Legislature can never go against the Act of Parliament or the Constitution. Exclusion of Money Bills from the purview of Hill Areas Committee under Manipur Legislative Assembly (Hill Areas  Committee) Order, 1972 Section 4(2) has been occasionally used to bypass the Hill Areas Committee in most matters. This is evident by classifying the Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015 as a 'money bill.' Unless the above amendment is made, apprehension is inherent that the State Government will continue to classify most of the bills which an against the interests of tribals as 'money bill' in order to bypass the Hill Areas Committee.

(H. MANGCHINKHUP)
Chief Convenor

(LALKHOHAO CHONGLOI)
Convenor — Secretary



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