'Declare Manipur as hill state through presidential proclamation', demands Manipur Patriotic Party

Manipur Patriotic Party has demanded the government to declare Manipur as a hill state through a presidential proclamation.

The resolution in this regard was taken during the “One-Day Political Conference on the Present Crisis in Manipur” held at Singjamei Yumnam Leikai of Imphal on June 29 with an aim to find a long-lasting solution in light of the present crisis.

Ningthoujam Sonarjit Singh, President, MPP, Thingujam Biren Meitei, Vice-President, and Naorem Mohen, General Secretary (org), MPP were the presidium members.

Speaking on the occasion, Mohen Singh underscored that what is happening in Manipur is narco-terrorism that is closely linked with the Kuki’s dream of a homeland.

To substantiate his claim, he cited India Today’s report on miscreants purchasing arms and ammunition from Myanmar that were imported to fuel violence in Manipur.

“Drug money funds the terrorist acts of the miscreants and their supporters. Thus, it is not an ethnic conflict because, in an ethnic conflict, civilians do not fight with armed militants,” an official statement quoted Mohen Singh as saying.
 
On the other hand, Biren Meitei stressed that unfortunately, the Assam Rifles because of its close relationship with the SoO miscreants have developed a strong sense of fraternity, and therefore, helping the militants in their aggression against the Meiteis”.

“That is why our Imas are angry and demanding the abrogation of the SoO. In other words, AR has lost the trust of the people”, he added.

Later, Sonarjit Singh noted that the miscreants have awakened the dormant Meitei warrior instincts, adding, “Our peaceful Vaisnavite faith and inherited traditional belief on harmonious existence with the surrounding including human beings domesticated our warring instincts''.

''Furthermore, as evidenced by the Meitei achievements, our fighting spirit has been channelized to modern games and sports. The Meiteis have excelled in games and sports. However, in the face of miscreants' narco-terrorist aggression, we’ve retaliated back proving that the Meitei are good warriors and strong patriots who can sacrifice for its motherland,'' he added.

During the political conference of the party, the participants resolved to defend the cause of Manipur and took the following resolutions.

1 Declare the state of Manipur as a “Hill State” through a presidential proclamation.
2 Abolish Kangpokpi district and merge the existing areas with neighbouring districts such as Senapati, Ukhrul, Kamjong, Imphal West, and Imphal East.
3 Create a new district by the name of Moirang by merging Kangvai, Tuibong, Churachandpur, and Saikot subdivisions to the Moirang sub-division as a homage to the folklore and history of Moirang known as the Moirang Kangleirol. And merge the remaining parts of the Churachandpur district into Noney, Chandel, and Pherzawl districts.
4 Kuki Chieftainship and the chiefs’ absolute control over land ownership, which is responsible for the oppression and exploitation of the ordinary Kuki, must be abolished.
5 Amend the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Amendment Act, 2002, which inserted “Any Kuki Tribes” (Entry No.33) in the list of Scheduled Tribes of Manipur.
6 Identify all illegal immigrants that settled in Manipur after 1951 and deport them to their places of origin.
7 Make constitutional provisions to safeguard the boundary of Manipur that existed at the time of Manipur’s merger with the Indian Union in 1949 and implement all the provisions of the merger agreement.
8 Abolish the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960 (MLR & LR Act 1960) to bring about a uniform land-holding policy across the state 6.   Identify all illegal immigrants that settled in Manipur after 1951 and deport them to their places of origin.
7 Make constitutional provisions to safeguard the boundary of Manipur that existed at the time of Manipur’s merger with the Indian Union in 1949 and implement all the provisions of the merger agreement.
8 Abolish the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960 (MLR & LR Act 1960) to bring about a uniform land-holding policy across the state
9 Make measures to stop the establishment of new villages consisting of 20 households (minimum).
10 Restore the Valley Village Reserve Forests granted by the Manipur State Durbar in 1932 to the foot-hill Meitei villages.
11 Formulate and implement a suitable land use policy for the whole state of Manipur.
12 Put a complete ban on religious conversion drives especially undertaken overtly by the Evangelical Church denomination so as to prevent the emerging militant distrust and enmity between followers of different religions because of its sermonizing hatred towards other community’s belief systems.

The patriotic party further demanded to remove the ST category “Any Kuki Tribes” from the ST list of Manipur citing that illegal immigrants can be recognized as Manipuri ST using this category. Secondly, in the present list of ST in Manipur, in addition to “Any Kuki Tribes” already 11 Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribes are recognized as getting ST benefits such as Gangte, Hmar, Any Mizo (Lushai) tribes, Paite, Ralte, Simte, Suhte, Thadou, Vaiphei, Zou, and Mate.

Also read: Manipur: Rahul Gandhi's visit to Moirang cancelled due to bad weather