TRIBAL PEOPLES' FORUM MANIPUR
- CHINGMEIRONG, IMPHAL 795001 [email protected] -

September 10, 2010

The Tribal Peoples'Forum Manipur (TPFM) is constrained to issue a press statement again as Shri Okram Ibobi Singh led ministry is continuing to play a malicious game to deny the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of Manipur their democratic rights and right to local self-governance.

The repeated statement made by Principle Secretary (Tribal Development and Hills), Government of Manipur, claiming that the May-June 2010 imposed election which was held under a highly militarised environment where thousands of army and paramilitary forces were deployed amidst strong protect by the tribals/indigenous peoples under the unwanted Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council Act 2008, as a success is nothing short of an outright hogwash, a pathetic lie to hoodwink the people, and a mischievious attempt to murder democracy in Manipur.

In four out of the five hill districts of Manipur, public protests were so overwhelming that polling officials were forced to put army combat dress with bulletproof gears. Despite this, they could not even proceed to their respective polling stations. The election which was to be held in two phases was "re-held" in five phases because of strong protest by the tribal people. Despite all these whitewashing, the end result is that there is no political mandate for those candidates who were declared "elected": people did not vote for them.

Despite the tall claims of the Government of Manipur, the fact proves otherwise. If the conduct of the District Council election is a success, why did the Government of Manipur carry out all the processes including the filing of nomination, scrutiny, counting, declaration and oath taking, and constitution of the Council in Imphal? If this election is for local self-governance, how would these so called "successful" Councillors govern from Imphal and not from their respective jurisdictions? Are they for the governing Imphal Valley? Could we imagine a similar scenario where Shri Ibobi Singh and his cohorts all shift to New Delhi? Would such governance be deemed democratic and legitimate?

TPFM is surprised that the reason behind the inability to conduct elections for the last 20 years, paticularly the denial of autonomy in the functioning of the District Councils has till date not been resolved, and resolving this serious lapse is not even in the agenda of the Government of Manipur. The deinal of 20 years of democratic rights was not questioned but when the funds alloted to the state was at stake, suddenly the Government of Manipur decided to conduct the elections under a law that the people did not want. In continuing the trend of denying the rights of the tribals, the GoM then ignored the widespread protest which lasted for more than two months, and conducted the elections as a mere formality to implement a process rather than giving meaning to the substance and objectives.

The denial of the rights of tribals, and the continued discrimination meted out to them is evident in many actions of the Government of Manipur. For instance, the bulk of the Special Plan Assistance Fund of Manipur is concentrated for projects in Imphal West District alone. In fact, funds under the Special Plan Assistance allocated to Imphal West District is more than the combined total allocated for the five hill districts of Chandel, Churahandpur, Senapati, Tamenglong and Ukhrul. If we factor in the funds allocated to the other districts in Imphal Valley, including Imphal East, Thoubal and Bishnupur, the difference is mindboggling. Such discrimination is nothing new for the tribals. We know, through the many years of hardships, that the Government of Manipur is not for the whole state but for the 700 sq mile territory of Imphal Valley/Kangleipak.

Such myopia will not bring the much touted social harmony and peaceful coexistence spouted by the corrupt politicians. We call upon every tribal to stand up against this tyranny and fight against the denial of our rights.

H. Ruleng,
Member Secretary, TPFM