WMC berates plan to dilute ST demand
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, March 24 2023:
World Meetei Council (WMC) has raised strong objections to the intentions of some people, especially from among the non indigenous people in Manipur to derail the genuine demand of Meetei community for inclusion in the list of Scheduled Tribes, by spreading false propaganda.
In a statement, WMC contended that due to the misdeeds committed by own leaders the Meetei community has now dwindled to a Humpty Dumpty from their historical position of being the big brother.
Today, Meeteis are confined in less than 6 per cent of the total area of the state.
Demographics are also posing another crisis.
Till 1971 census, there was socio-political equilibrium among the communities.
However, after the unchecked influx of illegal migrants from across the international border especially from neighbouring Myanmar, the demographic showed a fundamental change.
The illegal migrants merged with the local population having matching ethnicity thereby causing an unhealthy effect to the socio-political atmosphere in the state.
"We know that this migrant community have been planning to carve out a homeland from this tiny state, which is why students and CSOs have been urging the government to implement NRC," the WMC statement said.
"Not surprisingly this group of people is planting the theory of land grabbing by the Meetei in case Meetei become ST, in-spite of fully aware that the Meetei people would not live in the hills even if they are given land free of cost, so that their attempt to dominate the hills remain unhindered.
They have put up theories such as 'Meetei would seize all the advantages of the Naga and Kuki-Chin people provided by the provision of ST' as if the indigenous Nagas are fools.
But the fact is migrants and their descendants cannot be Scheduled Tribe according to the law and therefore the Government of India needs to amend the constitution accordingly," it stressed.
"Interestingly this group of people also claim that they are Jewish and after necessary scrutiny the Israeli government had accepted them as Jewish people and accordingly migration started to Israel from Manipur, records of which are available in the government.
Things are beyond the understanding of Meeteis and Nagas because being indigenous communities, their mythologies and their historical experiences are confined in the region unlike the migrant population," WMC said.
WMC, however, informed that it welcomes any gesture from any group to sit across the table in any venue, maybe at Amity Hall, Adimjati Complex, Imphal or any venue as convenient to them to clarify the points they usually raise every now and then through the media.
WMC also urged the state government and the Centre to expedite the process for inclusion of Meetei in the ST list of the Indian Constitution.