Manipur's crisis should be solved by its own people, says Tipra Motha chief
'I think the Government of India has done a lot, but they need to do more, and they need to be serious about it. They cannot just wait for things to change on their own. A healing touch has to come,' Barma told reporters on the sidelines of the World Indigenous Day 2025 celebrations on Saturday at the City Convention Centre in Imphal.
'Let me tell the people of Manipur don't allow national parties to play politics with your emotions. If you want to solve the problem, brothers and sisters have to sit together and bring in a solution,' he said, adding that Delhi's political priorities are largely driven by states with more Lok Sabha seats. 'Nobody in Delhi cares too much about Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, or Sikkim… they are more concerned about Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, or Gujarat.'
Barma emphasised that while central leaders may visit Imphal or Churachandpur to express sympathy, 'eventually the problems have to be solved by our own people.'
The World Indigenous Day event was jointly organised by the North East Indigenous People's Forum (NEIPF) and Indigenous People's Forum, Manipur (IPFM) under the theme 'Indigenous People's Right to Self-Determination: A Pathway for Food Security and Sovereignty.' Delegates from all seven Northeastern states attended, with support from the United Nations.
Among the prominent attendees were Kh. Ibomcha, MLA of Lamlai AC, Manipur; Ranjit Debbarma, MLA of Ramchandraghat AC, Tripura; Anup Chetia, Chairman of NEIPF; Rohan Philem, Vice President of IPFM; RK Meghen (Sanayaima), former Chairman of UNLF; and Amrik Singh Pahwa, Advisor to the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India.
Speakers at the event voiced serious concerns over illegal immigration into the Northeast, warning that it threatens indigenous identity and demographics. They urged urgent policy measures to safeguard land, culture, and rights.
Notably, no representatives from the Naga community were present. On July 30, the United Naga Council (UNC), the apex Naga body, had issued a 'notice of stricture' directing all members of the Naga community under its jurisdiction to refrain from participating in the event, which it described as being organised by an 'unmandated organisation.'
In an earlier statement, the UNC cited 'numerous reasons, factors, and complexities' for its decision, given the prevailing situation. 'What is detrimental for us and what is not cannot be always spelt out in the media. We don't dictate. The UNC works and functions with the Naga political movement as the guiding parameter,' it stated. The council also warned that any Naga who undermines or challenges the Naga political cause could face 'befitting actions,' without specifying the nature of such measures.
The event concluded with a united call for indigenous communities to protect their heritage, identity, and future.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
9 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
HT Archive: Building an equitable for our tribals
When Independence came, the leaders should have given it some consideration that the British were here to exploit India, and not to make it a flourishing economy. The leaders should have started everything from scratch, like strict enforcement of land reforms, land distribution to the landless, preservation and enlargement of forest areas, setting up of schools, laying roadways, ensuring drinking water and Irrigation facilities. electricity, housing, etc. These should have reached the people living below the poverty line all over India, and this should have been achieved by 50 years. But, regrettably, only 10% may have been achieved. Jawaharlal Nehru addresses the nation from Red Fort on Independence Day (HT Photo) We can well surmise that the tribals have borne the brunt of this laid-back attitude. In making big projects, the Government of India is always taking away tribal land. The evicted tribals are increasing in number, becoming rootless and swelling the number of migrant workers. They have been chiefly left at the mercy of contractors entrusted with the construction of such big projects such as the Narmada dam or the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) at Ranchi. The DVC dams in West Bengal and Bihar saw thousands and thousands of Santhals evicted. We find that to meet the ever-growing need for land of non-resident Indians or residential non-Indians, agricultural land is being taken away. As a result, both tribal and non-tribal peasants have suffered. In the Sunderbans, hundreds of acres of tribal land have been converted into fisheries for prawn cultivation. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, after the tribal revolt in the Chhotanagpur plateau, countless Santhals, Oraons, Mundas, Bedias and other tribals became landless. They were recruited by middlemen for cleaning the jungle and preparing large tracts for tea gardens as well as cropland. That is how these tribals came to West Bengal. On making an objective survey of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and other places, we find that the story remains the same. Even before Independence, tribal and non-tribal peasants in Kakdwip in West Bengal and Telangana in Andhra Pradesh were deprived of land. By 1955, the Zamindari Abolition Act came into force. But the zamindars had pre-empted this move by 1952-53. So, they felled forests, kept benami land and evicted tribals who had lived there for hundreds of years. In most cases, they held the ownership rayati patta. In the tea gardens in the 19th century, tribals were given large areas of land, but no patta. As the returns from the gardens increased, the tribals were evicted. The 1946 Tebhaga movement in Jalpaiguri was a result of the grievances of the landless tribals, and 12 of them became martyrs while fighting for their cause. The Naxalite movement originated from the land-grievance of the tribals. There are legal provisions to preserve tribal land. But neither the tribals nor the government can do anything as land revenue officers are generally corrupt. For a tribal to approach them and get redress is almost impossible. To make matters worse, no land reform has been attempted in the rest of the country. Even in a state like Kerala, the assembly passed a bill the other day which said outsiders could acquire any tribal land anywhere. The worst sufferers among them are the so-called criminal tribals. In 1871, the British notified many forest tribes as criminal ones along with some Scheduled Caste groups. In 1952, the Government of India declared them as denotified tribes, meaning they would no longer be treated as criminals. But for years the neighbouring people and the police have grown into believing that such tribes comprised born criminals. We have Lodhas in Midnapore district and the Kheria-Shabars in Purulia in this category. On December 20, 1996, five Lodhas rescued a forest beat officer from some miscreants who had attacked him when the officer caught them red-handed felling trees. The Lodhas not only saved him, but also took him to hospital, risking their own lives. Four days later the forest officer lodged an FIR with the local police naming the culprits and speaking eloquently of the Lodhas. But the district police submitted a charge sheet in which the five Lodhas were named as the accused. The Lodhas have fled their homes in terror. That there exists a bias against these people cannot be denied. Another example highlighting the same situation involves Lalit Shabar, a Kheria boy, who was sent to work in a neighbouring village. There he was bound to a tree and his right hand chopped off by none other than the local panchayat pradhan. The Lodhas and Kherias bear the stigma of being branded criminals to this day as the people and the police refuse to change their attitude. But there has emerged a silver lining. Women's organisations are coming up. Women have become conscious of the discrimination against them and are protesting. In Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh, women rose in protest against country liquor and forced the government to ban it, though the move has not been totally successful. The point to remember is that the protesting women belonged to the poorer strata of society. Women are also increasingly joining the decision-making process at the grassroot level. Edited except of an article written by author and activist Mahasweta Devi that appeared on August 15, 1997.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
‘Why won't you respect my language': Mamata attacks Centre over ‘harassment' of Bengali-speaking people
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday again accused the Centre of failing to protect Bengali-speaking people from harassment in different parts of the country, citing a recent incident where a techie and his son were allegedly denied hotel accommodation in Noida 'simply because he spoke in Bengali.' Speaking at the annual Kanyashree project programme, Banerjee said, 'If someone is a foreigner, action must be taken against them if the Government of India deems it necessary. That is not in our hands. But such actions should not be done arbitrarily… If I respect your language, why will you not respect mine?' Recalling her own struggles, she told students, 'After my father passed away, I had to sell one of my necklaces to enrol in college. We had no facilities, no advantages. This generation's youth should not suffer like that. They must be self-reliant. I urge parents to not pressure girls into marriage. Once they turn 18, they receive Rs 25,000, keep that in the bank. Even while getting married, women will get Rupashree, another Rs 25,000.' Banerjee highlighted the fall in dropout rates for girls since 2011-12—from 4.75 percent to zero in primary, 16.32 percent to 2.9% in secondary, and 15.41 percent to 3.17 percent in higher secondary. 'Is this not something to be proud of?' she said, urging girls to pursue academics, vocational training, sports, and other careers, citing examples of pilots, doctors, dancers and footballers. On language, she said English must be learned well, even in Bengali-medium schools, but 'never forget your mother tongue'. 'Earlier, till Class 5, English was not taught, but we have introduced it. We should know all languages,' she said. Banerjee invoked history from Vidyasagar abolishing child marriage to Raja Ram Mohan Roy ending sati to highlight West Bengal's contribution to Independence, stressing that 'without Bengal, India's Independence would not have been possible.' 'We have also suffered from Partition. But people who left everything and came to India as refugees were received as Indian citizens,' she said.
Indian Express
4 hours ago
- Indian Express
7 President's Police Gallantry Medals all awarded to Gadchiroli Police
The Government of India has announced the recipients of the President's Police Gallantry Medal for 2025, with all seven awardees from Maharashtra serving in the Gadchiroli district police force. The medals have been awarded in recognition of their exceptional bravery during a Maoist attack in 2017. Over the last five years, Gadchiroli police have received a total of three Shaurya Chakras, 210 Police Gallantry Medals, and eight medals for meritorious service. The recipients of the Police Gallantry Medal from the Gadchiroli Police force in 2025 are assistant police inspector Netaji Sukhdev Bandgar, police sub-inspector Manohar Kotla Mahaka, police head constable Manohar Lachma Pendam, constables Prakash Ishwar Kannake, Atul Satyanarayan Yegolpawar, Hidayat Sadulla Khan and martyr police constable Suresh Lingaji Telami (posthumously). In 2017, a C-60 team was returning to Bhamragad from Kothi in an MPV vehicle when Maoists detonated a landmine and attacked the police team. The officers and personnel responded to this cowardly attack with great courage and composure, Gadchiroli Police said. They protected the injured and trapped police personnel and themselves while returning fire against the intense Maoist assault. The President's Police Gallantry Medal has been announced in recognition of the bravery displayed by these officers and personnel during this landmine blast. The Superintendent of Police Neelotpal commended the recipients of the President's Police Gallantry Medal on behalf of the Gadchiroli Police force and extended his best wishes for their future service.
