Shillong, June 01: The North East India Indigenous Peoples Network (NEIIPN) comprising of Meghalaya Peoples Human Rights Council (MPHRC), Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), Indigenous Women’s Forum of Northeast India (IWFNEI), Karbi Human Rights Watch (KHRW), Naga Women’s Union(NWU), Zo Indigenous Forum (ZIF), Sinlung Indigenous Peoples Human Rights organization (SIPHRO), Borok Peoples Human Rights Organisation(BPHRO) & United Naga Council (UNC) and many other organizations will be holding a special consultation in Imphal, Manipur on the 2-4th June 2014.
“The objective of the meeting is to understand the rights of Indigenous Peoples and to develop solidarity and common understanding of the Indigenous Peoples of North East India on the essence of the right to self determination” said Dino D.G. Dympep, Convenor NEIIPN.
“It may be mention that in the different parts of the world the Universal Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is widely being used to promote their right to and of self-determination and to strengthen Human Rights.In India the refusal to officially recognize the Indigenous people is a challenge and impinges on the efforts to have meaningful engagements with issues that confront the Indigenous peoples of North East India” said Dino D. G.Dympep Convenor NEIIPN.
“In the Northeast despite existence of such declarations and mechanisms, the Indigenous Peoples right to defend their lands, languages, and cultures are increasingly being threatened in different forms. This can be in the form of influx of large immigrant population that is both pushed and ‘engineered’ often causing an imbalance in the population composition where the indigenous people in their own land become minorities with no rights and power to change the status quo” said NEIIPN.
“The tension between IPs and non IPs over land and land rights, resources, access to welfare services is becoming more sensitive each day and often translates into violence, very often along ethnic lines and divides. The aggression associated with development projects is another cause of concern and this is getting more serious every day” said NEIIPN.
Against this background the representatives of the Indigenous Peoples in the northeast will collectively delve into understanding the concept of Indigenous peoples Rights in the context of India and how these rights could be promoted but sustained against the forces that threaten the region.(SP News)
