IT News
Imphal, July 9:
Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), an organisation that is spearheading the Kuki people to the ongoing crisis has openly criticised the Chief Judicial Magistrate instead of challenging to the court following the due process of Law.
A statement of the ITLF, signed by one Ginza Vualzong, Media and Publicity of the Forum said that the directives of the Chief Judicial Magistrate is an attempt to silence tribals who are speaking on behalf of their community.
“The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal East, issued notice to Kuki Women’s Forum Convenor Mary Grace Zou, Wilson L. Hangsin, co- Founder of the Kuki People’s Allaiance and Professor Kham Khan Suan Hausingh, Head of Department of Political Science of Hyderabad University, based on complaint by people claiming to be social workers…… The accusations, which comes under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, are clearly an attempt to silence tribal who are speaking on behalf of their community”, a statement of the ITLF said.
The statement further said that it is an attack to their right to freedom of speech and is meant to suppress the voice of the Kuki-Zo tribals, who are witnessing an unprecedented threat to their existence from an unrelenting state-sponsored ethnic cleansing program.
As per the Contempt of Court Act, 1971, such criticism to the directives of a court amount to contempt of court. Section 2 of the act term such criticism as “civil contempt” which means wilful disobedience to any judgment, decree, direction, order, writ or other process of a court or wilful breach of an undertaking given to a court.
