Joint Action Committee (JAC) Ccpur makai mi 3 in tuni zinglam dak 8:00 in Lamka nusia in New Delhi zuan uh a, Auditorium–II, Convention Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru University ah “Tribals And Constitutional Safeguards: The Question of Land-Rights In India” chih thupi zang a One-Day National Seminar hun kihel ding uhi.One-Day National Seminar On
TRIBALS AND CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS: THE QUESTION OF LAND-RIGHTS IN INDIA
TRIBALS AND CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS: THE QUESTION OF LAND-RIGHTS IN INDIA
· Date: 31st March 2016
· Time: 10:00-18:00 hrs
· Venue: Auditorium–II, Convention Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru University
PROGRAMME
INAUGURAL SESSION (10:00-11:00 hrs.)
· Chair & Welcome Address: Prof. V. Sujatha, Chairperson, CSSS, JNU
· Introduction: Dr. L. Lam Khan Piang
· Inaugural Address: Shri Jitendra Choudhury, MP, Lok Sabha
· Keynote Address: Shri Jairam Ramesh, MP Rajya Sabha & Author (Former Union
Minister of Environment & Forest)
Minister of Environment & Forest)
Tea Break (11:00—11:30)
SESSION–I (11:30-13:30 hrs.)
Topic: "Federalism and the Question of Autonomy in Northeast India"
Chair: Prof. Balveer Arora
Panelists:
• Prof. Jangkhongam Doungel, Head, Dept. of Political Science, MZU
• Dr. Kham Khan Suan Hausing, Dept. of Political Science, HCU
• Dr. L. Lam Khan Piang, CSSS, SSS, JNU
• Prof. Jangkhongam Doungel, Head, Dept. of Political Science, MZU
• Dr. Kham Khan Suan Hausing, Dept. of Political Science, HCU
• Dr. L. Lam Khan Piang, CSSS, SSS, JNU
Lunch Break (13:30—14:30 hrs.)
SESSION–II (14:30-15:00 hrs.)
"Tribal Movement for Constitutional Safeguards: The case of Manipur"
Presentation by: Mr. H. Mangchinkhup, Chief Convener, JAC Against the Anti-Tribal Bills & other delegates from the team
SESSION–III (15:00–17:00 hrs.)
Topic: "Laws and Tribals’ Land-Rights in India"
Chair: Prof. Edward Rodrigues
Panelists:
• Prof. Nandini Sundar, Dept. of Sociology, DSE, DU
• Prof. Savyasaachi, Dept. of Sociology, JMI
• Dr. Sudha Vasan, Dept. of Sociology, DSE, DU
• Prof. Nandini Sundar, Dept. of Sociology, DSE, DU
• Prof. Savyasaachi, Dept. of Sociology, JMI
• Dr. Sudha Vasan, Dept. of Sociology, DSE, DU
Tea Break (17:00—18:00 hrs.)
SESSION–IV (17:00–18:00 hrs.)
PLENARY DISCUSSION
· Topic: "In the center of peripheries: the Case of the Manipur Tribals"
· Moderators: Dr. Kamei Aphun & Dr. L. Lam Khan Piang
· Photo Exhibition by Mr. Vivek Singh
· For further details: lampiang@gmail.com & k.aphundse@gmail.com
CONCEPT NOTE
TRIBALS AND CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS: THE QUESTION OF LAND-RIGHTS IN INDIA
The framers of the Indian Constitution recognized the need to accord protection for the minorities and tribal groups. Consequently, the Constituent Assembly constituted The Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Area under which, various sub-committees have been formed to deal with tribal issues by categorizing the tribal inhabited areas as scheduled and tribal areas. Accordingly, certain provisions were enshrined in the 5th Schedule and 6th Schedule of the Constitution to govern and administer Scheduled Areas and tribal areas in mainland India and the Northeast region respectively.
In spite of such protections enshrined in the Constitution the tribals were exposed to the risk of being disposed from their ancestral land. This is mainly due to the encroachments into their lands by non-tribals, the state and in more recent years, the corporations. It is imperative to address the vulnerability of the tribals and also keep alive the debates on the implication of the various laws related to land and forest rights of the tribals enacted by the Parliament of India.
This seminar is a call to deliberate on the plight of the tribal groups who were left out from such Constitutional safeguards like the 5th or 6th Schedule provided to the tribals in India. This will bring to the hotbed of insurgencies—Manipur – where tribals have been victims of the state’s neglect, biased policies and lackadaisical treatment ever since its merger with the Union of India. In fact, in the Northeastern region, the tribal people in Tripura and Manipur were left out, originally, of the purview of the 6th Schedule. This anomaly was redressed in the case of Tripura in 1984 when the 6th Schedule provision was extended to the tribal areas of that State. The Government of the day also recommended on the floor of the Lok Sabha that the same provision be extended to the tribal people of Manipur and despite several recommendations by the State Government of Manipur and various expert committees set up by the Central Government, the provision is yet to be extended.
For the tribals in Manipur, as in the case of all indigenous tribal people, land is the most important natural asset which is sacred and inseparable from their identity. The demand for autonomy within the larger Indian context can be understood as an attempt to safeguard these distinct attachments with their ancestral land, and thereby to seek to protect and promote their traditions.
The issue of the 6th Schedule provisions for Manipur (Hill Areas) came to the fore again in the aftermath of three contentious Bills passed in the Manipur Assembly on 31st August, 2015 which accentuated the urgency of safeguarding and protecting the constitutional rights of the tribals of Manipur.
The unresolved question of land, rights and autonomy demands, in Manipur and elsewhere, is suggestive of the continuing need to reevaluate the functionality of the constitutional safeguards in protecting the interests of tribals.
Therefore, the purpose of this seminar is to discuss and deliberate on the common challenges of tribals in India, particularly in relation to these existing safeguards, and to re-conceptualize empowered models that may serve to protect and preserve the inalienable rights of tribals to their land and identity.
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