STDCM continues with ST demand
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, January 19 2023:
People, mainly womenfolk at Lamlong Keithel demonstrated demanding inclusion of Meitei/Meetei in the Scheduled Tribe list of the Indian Constitution today.
Organised under the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee Manipur (STDCM), people, during the protest, held placards and raised slogans to include the Meitei/Meetei in the ST list and provide the community Constitutional safeguard.
Lamlong Keithel Phambi Apunba Nupi Lup president RK Dhanabati said it is unfortunate that the State Government has not yet sent the recommendations and records sought by the Central Ministry of Tribal Affairs for consideration of the ST demand.
The womenfolk and people of the region support the STDCM and its demand for inclusion of the Meitei/Meetei in the ST list, she said.
The demand doesn't infringe upon the rights and interests of the other communities.
The movement is to protect the Meitei/Meetei community's future, she said.
Stating that the ST demand is a legitimate right of the Meitei/Meetei, she said so far none of the MLAs and Ministers the STDCM had visited have said that they are against the demand.
All the MLAs and Ministers have endorsed STDCM's demand, she added.
Dhanabati said she is hopeful that the State Government at the earliest would take up positive steps to include the Meitei/Meetei in the ST list.