RS MP Sanajaoba's statement on ST demand upsets Muslim body
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, April 07 2022:
All Manipur Muslim Organisation Co-ordinating Committee (AMMOCOC) has said that the statement made by MP Leishemba Sanajaoba in the Parliament regarding inclusion of Meetei/Meitei in the ST list of Indian Constitution was communal and it condemned the statement.
MP Leishemba Sanajaoba's statement made in the Rajya Sabha few days back blackens the history of the land, AMMOCOC president Jalal said and demanded withdrawal of the statement.
Addressing a press conference at its office at Hatta here on Thursday, Jalal said that Pangal community supports inclusion of Meetei/Meitei in the ST list but the statement made by MP Sanajaoba in the interest of only one community was not satisfactory as he is the representative of entire people of the state.
Pangal community too has been pressuring the Prime Minister, Union home minister, governor and chief minister for inclusion of the community in the ST list.
However, the MP raised the matter in the Parliament in the interest of a single community while sidelining Pangal community, he said, adding that Leishemba Sanajaoba's statement was disheartening for Pangal community.
According to Jalal, many people of the state including Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee were against sending Leishemba Sanajaoba as member of the Rajya Sabha but AMMOCOC and other Meitei Pangal organisations supported him with high hope that he would work for all cutting across community lines.
AMMOCOC supported and appreciated when MP Sanajaoba raised various issues relating to Manipur in the Parliament including inclusion of Manipuri script in currency notes, setting up IIT, resolution of border pillar issue, setting up AIIMS and others but his statement on ST demand was condemnable.
It would be impossible for Meitei Pangal to remain as general category when Meetei/Meitei have been included in the ST list, Jalal said, while appealing to the MP to treat every community equally rather than playing divisive policy.