Imphal: The ten tribal MLAs belonging to the Kuki-Zo community on Friday once again demanded that a separate administration like that of Union Territory (UT) with a Legislative Assembly for the tribals in Manipur is the only option to resolve the over 17-month-long ethnic crisis in the state.
The 10 legislators in a joint letter to Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya said that Union Territory with legislature is the “only viable way ahead for peaceful neighbourly existence”.
“We urge your kindness to find favour with our political demand, which reflects the strong political aspiration of our people and advocate for our cause which is the only practical way for a peaceful solution to the crisis,” they said.
Strongly opposing the Hill Areas Committee’s (HAC) recent resolution relating to the Autonomous District Council, Manipur, the 10 MLAs said that the says, “in order to run the administration of ADCs, a Committee consisting a total of 20 members for each ADC shall be constituted of whom 18 members shall be selected from amongst the former ADC members/experts in Local Self Govt/eminent persons/intellectuals and two (2) Govt.”
Terming the HAC’s resolution as unconstitutional, a mockery of democratic principles, unlawful, unprecedented, arbitrary, divisive and biased, the legislators said that the resolution was taken while the state’s law and order situations prevent half of the HAC members from a particular community from attending the HẠC Meeting and state’s Assembly Sessions since the May 3 last year.
A tribal leader on Friday said that two Ministers and two MLAs belonging to the Kuki-Zo tribal community during a meeting with the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on October 15 told the Center that a separate administration like that of Union Territory with a legislative assembly for the Kuki-Zo community is a prerequisite for any peace dialogue.
“We want a Puducherry model of Union Territory in Manipur for the Kuki-Zo tribal community. We have been demanding a separate administration for the tribals since the ethnic crisis began in May last year,” a Kuki MLA, who attended the October 15 meeting in Delhi, told IANS.
A senior official of the Manipur government while talking on condition of anonymity told IANS that the MHA officials in the Delhi meeting were “aversed on the separate administration demand of the Kuki-Zo Ministers and MLAs.”
Union and the state governments have on a number of occasions earlier also rejected the demand for separate administrations or a Union Territory.
17 months after the ethnic violence erupted in Manipur, the MHA held the first meeting with all three major communities — Meitei, Kuki, and Naga — in a bid to find a way to a peaceful solution to the protracted unrest.
The non-tribal Meiteis account for around 53 per cent of Manipur’s around 3.2 million population and live mostly in the valley regions comprising 6/7 districts while the tribal Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts, which cover around 90 per cent of the geographical areas of Manipur.
–IANS