ATSUM spreading pack of lies: WMC to PM
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 25 2022: The World Meetei Council (WMC) has accused the All Tribal Students Union Manipur (ATSUM) of spreading lies in the National capital.

According to a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, WMC said that the ATSUM has been indulging in extremely provocative activities, spreading lies and meeting Union Ministers to misrepresent and falsify the demand of the Meetei people to grant them ST status so as to save themselves from total annihilation.

Apprising the Prime Minister of who the Meeteis are, the WMC asserted that the Meeteis/Meiteis are the aboriginal people of Manipur along with the Nagas.

"They are formed by seven clans or seven big families which we, Meetei, call Salai Taret.

However, after the Meeteis were converted to Hinduism in the 18th century, they were taken as Aryans.

"That was the only reason why Meeteis were taken as general and not as Scheduled Tribe.

And our elders too were proud to be identified as Aryans and therefore they never pointed out that Meeteis were aboriginal people like the Nagas", it said.

It is extremely unfortunate that the Meetei people are not allowed by the Indian Constitution to live as rightful citizens in Manipur.

They can live only in 9 per cent of the area of Manipur which is the valley area situated in the middle.

This is a great injustice meted out to the Meetei people, the WMC said.

The reason for subjecting Meetei people to such injustice is the fact that they are not included in the list of Scheduled Tribes and the 91 per cent land area of Manipur is protected for communities who are enlisted in the ST list, it said.

Now when the Meetei people are asking for their rightful place in the list of Scheduled Tribes as they fulfil all the criteria prescribed by the Lokur Commission, a section of communities; namely Chin-Kuki groups of people who were wrongly enlisted in the ST category has been vehemently raising objections to the Meitei's demand in the name of ATSUM, according to the memorandum.

It maintained that the Chin-Kuki groups of people migrated from Burma (Myanmar) and they were permitted by the Manipur Government to settle under the refugee settlement policy on humanitarian consideration.

However when the Chin-Kuki groups of people got settled down in Manipur, they became trouble creators, even working to carve out an independent homeland which they call as Zalengam, it alleged.

Being migrants, the Chin-Kuki groups of people do not know who the Meeteis are and therefore they are going beyond Manipur.

They are seriously trying to demonize the Meetei population across borders, specially among the Scheduled Tribes population in India, it decried.

The WMC then cautioned that such unrestrained communal activities of the Chin-Kuki people are bound to cause serious unwanted situations in Manipur and the North East as well.

Scheduled Tribes in India are the aboriginal inhabitants of the land who are generally called as indigenous people, and migrants and their children cannot in any case become Scheduled Tribes in India.

In the light of these facts, the Chin-Kuki groups of people were wrongly enlisted in the ST category, it alleged and urged the Prime Minister to look into the matter so that they are removed from the list of Scheduled Tribes and only the genuine indigenous people are enlisted.

The Chin-Kuki groups of people are still living in their original homeland, the Chin State in Burma (Myanmar); it said.

"It may also be pointed out that they also claim to be Jewish people and the Israeli Government has accepted them and accordingly some of them have migrated to Israel and settled there.

These are the facts based on records which are available in the Government records of Manipur and the Centre as well", the memorandum mentioned.

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