MLA Nalini joins pro-ST bandwagon
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 19 2022:
MLA Irengbam (O) Nalini of Oinam AC has joined the group of legislators who have pledged their support to the demand for enlisting Meitei/Meetei in the Scheduled Tribe category.
A team of STDCM called on the MLA at her Irengbam Awang Mamang residence today and submitted a memorandum.
Responding to the memorandum, Nalini not only expressed support to the demand of securing a Constitutional protection for the Meitei/Meetei by way of enlisting the community in the ST category but also pledged unstinted cooperation from her side towards achievement of the particular demand.
"I had the opportunity to listen and take part in discussions between my late husband and his friends on the issue of enlisting Meitei/Meetei as a Scheduled Tribe.
It is our obligation to support all movements aimed at protecting the culture and identity of Meitei/Meetei who are the aborigines of the land", Nalini said.
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"We are also highlanders by origin and we are indigenous people of the land.
We fulfil all criteria for enlistment in the ST category", she said.
History as well as folktales of the land say that hill people and plain people are brothers even though the elder brother stayed back in the hills while the younger brother moved to the valley with the passage of time, Nalini said.
It was much later in the history that hill people and plain people adopted different religions, she pointed out.
Lamps lighted atop high poles in the courtyard of Meitei families during the Manipuri calendar month of Mera testifies and keeps alive the bond of fraternity shared between hill people and plain people, she asserted.
A Tangkhul character (Tangkhul Shaba) is a must in every Lai Haraoba festival and no marriage ceremony can be solemnised according to Meitei customs without Leirum Phi (traditional cloth woven by Tangkhuls), the MLA elaborated.
ST status is something due to the Meitei community and they have every right to seek constitutional safeguards, Nalini asserted.
She maintained that all major issues of Manipur can be resolved once Meitei/Meetei is enlisted in the ST category.
An environment of harmonious co-existence and collective development will emerge, she added.
Nalini said that she would vote in favour of the ST status demand if the issue is raised on the floor of the Manipur Legislative Assembly.