Manipur (Hill Areas) District Councils Act, 1971 and Article 37IC were time-tested toothless provisions: Zomi Council Steering Committee
Manipur Government to suit Meitei communal interests while conveniently ignoring the historical facts.
The letter highlighted the representation submitted earlier by the Ojha Sanajaoba Memorial Trust (OSMT) and explained how the Memorial Trust's demand for the insertion of protective clause under Article 3 and amendment of Article 37 IC (1) & (2) of the Indian Constitution is myopic and communal, and portrayed the exclusive mindset of the Meitei community at large.
The ZCSC memorandum described how the OSMT's representation was a direct challenge to the very spirit and propriety of the Constitution of India and an attempt to further their selfish interest and also undermine the clear intent of the legislature. While stating that the tribal people in general and the Zo people in particular were never integrated completely with Manipur and Meitei society at any historical point in time, the ZCSC letter demonstrated the independent existence of the Meitei Maharaja and the Zo King/Ukpipa upto British colonial times by citing the Treaty of Sanjenthong and the Treaty of Kaparang signed between Zo Ukpipa Sumkam and Maharaja Chandrakirti in 1873, where dealings between them happened as equal partners.
The memorandum also included how a series of treaties were executed and boundary commissions formed to curve out large chunks of hill lands from the hitherto independent Burma (1826), Naga Hills (1842), Chin Hills (1894) and Lushai Hills (1901) to be administered by the British Political Agent stationed at Imphal all done for the sake of administrative convenience — which eventually led to the formation of present-day Manipur.
The ZCSC also wrote how it felt that the Meitei community and the State Government have an obligation
