BJP demands ST status
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, August 27 2015:
BJP Manipur Pradesh has demanded that the indigenous people of the State - Meetei/Meitei, Meitei/Meetei Bamon and Meitei/Meetei Pangal - be specified as Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution of India.
BJP Manipur Pradesh president Th Chaoba while speaking at a press conference urged the Government to take a resolution in this regard in the State Legislative Assembly which is holding a special session starting from tomorrow.
Maintaining that Meetei/Meitei, Meetei/Meitei Bamon and Meetei/Meitei Pangal were earlier specified as ST, Th Chaoba said that his party had submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister demanding retention of ST status of these communities by taking a resolution during the special session of the State Assembly.
Saying that history, culture, tradition and food habit of all the indigenous communities of the State are similar, Th Chaoba observed any challenge which comes on the way of retaining the earlier ST status of these communities are unconstitutional.
He opined that a resolution of the State Assembly regarding the matter must be forwarded to the Centre at the earliest.
Saying that the Centre had already asked the State Government to submit a report within six months regarding the matter, Th Chaoba said that the State Government now has only three months to submit the report.
He said that authentic documents like Census of India 1891 - A General Report, Census of Assam 1901 Volume-I, Census of India 1931 - Volume-I, Imperial Gazetteer of India Provisional Series, Eastern Bengal and Assam 1909, Descriptive Enthology of Bengal 1872, India Census Ethnography-1901-1931 and North and North Eastern Frontier Tribes of India refer/mention Manipuris as tribes.
He said that it is a matter of pride for all the Manipuris that Rani Gaidinliu has been included among the five freedom fighters whose centenary birth anniversary celebration would be held this year by the Government of India.