UNC reacts strongly to talks of 'civil war', 'bloodshed'
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, November 23 2011: Reacting to the alleged provocative and irresponsible public statements made by leaders of Imphal based civil societies and political parties, targeting the Nagas, United Naga Council (UNC) has asserted that the Nagas and tribals in Manipur have not objected to the Meiteis' movement for self determination.

In a statement issued by its Publicity Wing, UNC said that it is common knowledge that Naga nationalists had provided assistance and guidance to the Meitei nationalist groups in time of their great needs.

The Nagas and tribals of Manipur have also not objected to the Meitei's demand for inclusion of Meiteilon in the 8th Schedule and the extension of 11th Schedule (Panchayati Raj) and the 12th Schedule (Municipality Council) to the Manipur valley and the development of Imphal valley as a modern city state with state of the art structures and buildings and communication networks.

However, the 'communal" government of Manipur have enacted the Manipur (Village Authority in Hill Areas) Act, 1956 against the customary practices and traditions of the tribals, passed the Manipur Hill Areas (Acquisition of Chiefs Rights) Act, 1967 to enable Govt.of Manipur to transfer all rights, titles and interest of the chiefs in village land and vest the same in the Government, passed the Forest Rights Act, 2006 without excluding the tribal areas in the state in full knowledge of the land holding system of the tribals in the state, imposed the Manipur(Hill Areas) District Council (3rd Amendment) Act, 2008 which allows for District Councils to occupy and sell village land, take away forest land, interfere in the appointment/succession of chiefs/ headman/chairman and interfere on matters relating to inheritance of property, marriage and divorce and control and regulation of customs and traditions, sabotaged the delimitation exercise in the name of all Manipur political parties forum and prevented the increase of 3 tribal seats in the State Assembly, by establishing legitimacy have imposed acts, rules, orders and suppressive measures in all walks of life and blatantly carried out mass scale injustice, deprivation and oppression of the tribals, also launched full scale communal attack through public orders on other mainland Indians, who are settled in Imphal after October 19, 1949 and many innocent Mayangs(outsiders) have been killed, maimed and forced to flee Imphal valley, UNC contended.

On the other hand, the 'communal' Government of Manipur have objected to the demand for Naga integration, the aspiration of all Nagas, based on their history, the Indo-Naga ceasefire of 1997 and the extension of cease-fire beyond territorial limits in 2001, the extension of 6th Schedule to the hill/tribals areas, the visit of Th.Muivah, the Naga leader and chief negotiator with Govt.of India, to his native place, the visit of the Naga Students' Federation to Oinam village, Tahamzam (Senapati) to oversee arrangement for their Federal Assembly, the demand of the Nagas in Manipur for an alternative arrangement outside the Government of Manipur, as the Nagas can no more protect their land, traditional institutions, dignity and honour under the communal Govt.of Manipur, the launching of Manipur unit of the Naga Peoples' Front, a political party registered with the Election Commission of India under Peoples' Representation Act and to the visit of Mr Neiphiu Rio, a democratically elected Chief Minister to attend the same and any move either imagined or actual to address the Naga issue as is testified by the present furor against the supposed supra-state in Imphal valley.

Moreover, the 'communal' government of Manipur wants to extend the MLR& LR Act of 1960 to the hills areas of Manipur and thereby snatch away the land of the tribals, lift the Manipur Liquor prohibition Act 1991 from the five hill districts, impose Manipuri language on tribals by making Manipuri compulsory in educational institutions and competitive examinations, upgrade Sadar Hills to a full fledged district so as to bifurcate Naga areas turn it into a revenue district, so that they can snatch away the land of the tribals and create Jiribam, Phungyar, Tengnoupal, Kakching, Tongjei Marin, etc districts in order to slice off lands from tribal areas and make them Meitei majority districts.

Given this situation, it is most unbelievable that even the exalted office of the Governor of Manipur had all these year failed in his constitutional duties as stipulated under 371(A) which enjoins the Governor to submit an annual report to the President of India on the administration of the hill areas of Manipur.

As borne out by an RTI application, the response dated 7th July, 2011 ref no MHA w.r.t.O.M.no..A43020/01/2011-RTI dated 1.6.2011.from the Ministry of Home Affairs, GOI indicates a "NIL" on the report to the President of India on the administration of hill areas of Manipur, the statement of the UNC pointed out.

Against this backdrop, Dr.Nimaichand Luwang, President of MPP during the sit in protest at its party office, Imphal on November 19, 2011 against the supposedly proposed Supra State Body for the Nagas, talked of a civil war in the state if the Centre continued to insist on the Supra State body.

Dr.Dr Luwang is no ordinary citizen, but is the President of one of the oldest regional political parties in the region and it exposes the communal colours even at the leadership level of the people in Imphal valley.

This is not an isolated and accidental utterance.

The threat of bloodshed and civil war have been pronounced by Ranendrajit, Dilip Kumar, O.Joy, etc.

who are all prominent social and political leaders of Imphal valley, UNC decried, adding "we demand to know the meaning and intent of citing "civil war" and "blood shed".

Whose blood are they crying for and with whom is the civil war being proposed to be waged?" .

UNC said that the GoM and the dominant communities cannot teach the Nagas anything about war for we have waged it honourably for more than 60 years, nor are they licensed to talk about peace for we have patiently gone through more than 14 years of cease-fire and peaceful negotiation with the Government of India(GoI) .

"The position of the Nagas is clear and irreversible.

We want an alternative arrangement outside the Government of Manipur, pending settlement of the Indo-Naga issue.

For the Nagas it is a matter of rights and this cannot be subjected to the interest of the dominant community or the communal State Government", the statement of the UNC contended.

UNC warned that in case of any undesirable consequences arising out of the situation being created in Imphal valley, the likes of Dr.Luwang and leaders of the Imphal valley based organization will be held responsible.

All this disturbing events have come about on account of the lack of commitment and political will of the GoI in dealing with the aspiration of the Nagas and therefore the GoI will also be held responsible for any communal conflagration in the present state of Manipur, UNC alleged, and cautioned the Naga public to remain alert to face any eventuality at this critical time and situation and to actively participate in the ongoing democratic movement till our political aspirations are achieved.

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