Guwahati: The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) — a conglomerate of recognised tribes based in Churachandpur, Outer Manipur — has opposed the proposed autonomous district council elections in the strife-torn state, calling it merely a strategy to deflect the movement for a separate administration in Manipur. ITLF has urged people to abstain from participating in ADC elections until the settlement of their political demand.
Ten tribal organisations in Manipur, along with ITLF, on Sunday also urged the Centre not to fence the India-Myanmar border and to continue with the Free Movement Regime (FMR).
The ITLF issued a statement saying, "A resolution passed on Oct 14 by the Hill Areas Committee (HAC), a constitutional body that is supposed to represent the interests of tribal people in Manipur, to create temporary committees for each of the autonomous district councils in the state until ADC elections are held, is unacceptable as Kuki-Zo MLAs were not involved in the decision-making process."
Manipur PCC recently accused the BJP govt in the state of being "anti-tribal" and "anti-hill people" for not holding ADC elections for the last four years. This despite the fact that the state has six autonomous district councils. However, ITLF maintained that HAC's resolution recommending elections for ADCs amid the ethnic violence is contentious, deceptive and wholly undesirable. "After so many years of delay, why now, in the middle of a bloody conflict? The last ADC elections were held in 2016. Since then, no local body polls have been conducted by the Manipur govt," it said.
Acknowledging that ADCs have been starved of funds and are facing substantial difficulty in performing their tasks, ITLF alleged that this shows the state govt's utter disregard for the welfare of the hill people. "After so much death, destruction, and the vilification of our community by the state govt, we shall not be distracted by local body elections. We advise the people not to participate in ADC elections until there is a settlement of our political demand," ITLF said.
On fencing of the India-Myanmar border and FMR, the ITLF statement said, "The people of Mizoram and Nagaland have also voiced their opposition to border fencing, citing the importance of FMR in maintaining social, cultural and economic ties between tribal communities who live on both sides of the border. ITLF requests all tribals, especially village chiefs and govt employees, not to participate in any border fencing activities that will split our people on either side of the border.
Earlier on Jan 24 too, the ITLF had written to Union home minister Amit Shah, requesting him to reverse the decision to abolish the FMR and to stop fencing the border
The Centre has already scrapped the India-Myanmar FMR, which allowed people residing close to the border to venture 16 km into each other's territory without any documents. It was implemented in 2018 as part of India's Act East policy. The India-Myanmar border passes through Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.