Rename STDCM as ST Restoration Committee idea floated
ST demand gets more fillip
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, January 08 2023: Joining the long list of State Assembly Members who have endorsed the Scheduled Tribe categorisation demand for Meitei/Meetei, Kakching AC MLA Mayanglambam Rameshwar has said the STDCM's demand to include the community in the Constitution's ST list is legitimate and has merit.

The demand for ST status is legitimate as the Meitei/Meetei were tribals before, he said and suggested that the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee should be renamed as Scheduled Tribe Restoration Committee.

The Kakching Assembly Constituency MLA said this while he was visited by members of the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee of Manipur (STDCM) at his residence at Kakching Makha Lou.

During the visit, the STDCM members also submitted a memorandum to the MLA seeking his support.

Justifying the suggestion to change the name to Scheduled Tribe Restoration Committee, he said, "We were tribals till 1930.We were abruptly removed from the ST list in 1950" .

M Rameshwar said he fully supports the demand of STDCM to include Meitei/ Meetei in the list of the Scheduled Tribes.

"The STDCM's demand for giving ST status to the Meitei/Meetei community is legitimate and it has merit.

If this [demand for ST status] is not pursued in time, then the future generation of the Meitei/Meetei would surely be in a very serious predicament," M Rameshwar said.

He also informed that Rajya Sabha MP Leishemba Sanajaoba has already brought up the issue (ST status demand) in the Parliament.

In further pursuit of the demand, he would extend all possible help in pressuring the Chief Minister and Centre to give the ST status to Meitei/Meetei, he said.

It may be noted here that the STDCM has been demanding the ST status for Meitei/Meetei for the last 10 years holding a series of democratic protests across Manipur.

In addition to the support of a number of civil society organisations, the STDCM has also elicited support from among the Members of the Legislative Assembly in the last 2-3 months.

Significantly, the STDCM has been visiting MLAs and Ministers to seek their support.

It has been demanding the elected Members of the Assembly to pressure the State Government to send recommendations and records sought by the Centre Ministry of Tribal Affairs back in 2013 to consider the ST demand for Meitei/Meetei.

While the STDCM has been demanding the State Government to send the recommendations, the World Meetei Council, on the other hand, had earlier informed that the recommendations and the records sought by the Ministry have already been sent by the Government, according to the Chief Minister himself.

While N Biren Singh has not yet commented on the matter in public, the World Meetei Council, in a press statement earlier, had informed that during a meeting with the Chief Minister at his office on November 14,2022, its members were informed that the recommendation and records "have already been sent" .

The WMC had quoted the Chief Minister saying "the ball is in the court of the Centre" on the issue.

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