STDCM gears up for renewed stir
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, March 17 2021:
A fresh stir to demand Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for to Meetei/Meitei community will be launched from March 20, said STDCM (Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee, Manipur) .
Speaking to reporters at Thangmeiband Ima Khuntokhanbi Shanglen yesterday, the committee's general secretary, K Bhogendrajit said the Meeteis/Meiteis, like others are indigenous people of Manipur and as such they should enjoy the same Constitutional protection others (ST communities) are getting.
The mass movement/stir will incorporate various forms of democratic agitation and these protests will be held following the COVID-19 SOPs (standard operating procedures) strictly.
He said the committee is launching the stir to put pressure on the State Government to send the required recommendation to the Centre to give ST status to the community.
Except the Meeteis/Meiteis, other indigenous communities of the State have been included in the ST list.
Like them, the Meetei/Meitei community should be included in the ST list and given Constitutional protections.
Here, Constitutional protections mean protection of the community's land and their rights among others.
Others cannot buy land belonging to ST and the right to contest elections is reserved for the community.
By demanding the ST status for the Meetei/Meitei community, the STDCM is demanding these protections, Bhogendrajit said.
He also asserted that the Supreme Court of India, while giving its ruling in a criminal case in 2011, had mentioned that the communities included in the ST list are indigenous people of India.
Even though the Meeteis/Meiteis are indigenous people of Manipur, the Indian Constitution doesn't recognise the community as indigenous people for they are not included in the ST list.
As a result, the community is not enjoying any Constitutional protection.
Most of the indigenous communities in the North-East region have been included in the ST list and there is a fear that only the Meetei/Meitei community would be left out without Constitutional protection needed to safeguard their land, rights and interests, he said.
Bhogendrajit further stated that for a community to be included in the ST list, the State Government concerned is required to send a recommendation for the same to the Centre.
After STDCM submitted a memorandum demanding the ST status for the Meetei/Meitei community to India Government, the Centre had asked the State Government to "send a recommendation on May 29, 2013" .
Unfortunately, the State Government is yet to send the recommendation till today, he added.
As informed earlier, the STDCM is launching a fresh stir by organising mass sit-in protests at various places on March 20 .
The sit-in protests will be conducted following Covid SOPs.
Each protest site will have not more than 50 people, he said, appealing to the people, local clubs, Meira Paibis, civil society organisations to extend their cooperation and participate in the protests at their localities.
He stressed that the demand for ST status is not directed against any group or community, but a step towards fostering peaceful coexistence of all.