Imphal, Apr 1 : The public consultation meeting held on Monday by the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) at Kuki Inn, Imphal has flatly rejected the so-called “Select Committee Report” on the Manipur Hill Areas Autonomous District Council Bill, 2008 that was placed before the members of the Manipur legislative assembly on March 19 last.
In a press statement issued on Monday, the ATSUM president Dr John Pulamte and general secretary Thomas Taishya stated that the members present expressed their indignation that the right of the hill peoples of Manipur guaranteed by the Constitution of India is being meddled around “shamelessly” by the Manipur Legislative Assembly.
The statement further cautioned that in the event of the justice being denied on April 3 –when the next sitting of the Manipur legislative assembly is being fixed to discuss the bill – then the ATSUM will not hesitate to launch a far reaching ‘mass tribal movement’ to redress the grievances even to the point of disassociating the tribal from anything that has to do with Manipur.
It may be mentioned that the report of the Select Committee on the Manipur Hill Areas Autonomous District Council Bill, 2008 which was tabled in the House on March 19 in the assembly was referred to the Hill Area Committee (HAC) of the Manipur legislative assembly due to ‘procedural lapses’ in the content and discussion for the same has been fixed on April 3.
The Bill was tabled in the assembly on March 19 by the tribal Development minister DD Thasii. However, it was referred to the HAC. The bill was referred again due to ‘said the assembly speaker.
It is also pertinent to mention that sixteen tribal MLAs staged a walk-out protest in the Manipur assembly on March 12 after the assembly speaker Sapam Budhichandra referred the Manipur Hill Areas Autonomous District Council Bill, 2008 to the five-member selection committee ‘due to the cropping up of “technical errors” in the Bill.’
The Manipur Hill Areas Autonomous Bill, 2008 was introduced in the House on March 11 by the Chairman of Hill Areas Committee, Manipur Legislative Assembly Thangminlien Kipgen and it was referred to be discussed the next day as decided by the assembly speaker. However, it has been decided again to be discussed on April 3.
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