BJP bats for ST status for all communities
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, August 27 2015: State BJP on Thursday submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister seeking appropriate action on the people's demand for specifying ethnic groups of Meitei, Meitei-Pangal, Meitei Bamon and other tribes of Manipur as 'Scheduled Tribes' in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of India.

This was informed by Bharatiya Janata Party Manipur Pradesh president Th Chaoba during a press meet at the party office here at the Nityaipak Chuthek.

The memorandum to Chief Minister O Ibobi stated that the ethnic groups in Manipur live in a common territory under a single political system or organization, with a distinct cultural and historical tradition, retaining most of their pristine/primitive traits, speaking Manipuri as a lingua franca in most parts of the State and bound together by common ties of ancestry and race.

It said authentic documents like Census of India 1891 A General Report, Census of Assam 1901, Census of India 1931, Imperial Gazetteer of India Provisional Series, Eastern Bengal and Assam 1909, Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal 1872 and North and Northeastern Frontier Tribes of India compiled in the Intelligence Brand Division of the Chief of the Army Staff Headquarters India (1983) mentions extensively about Manipuris as "tribes" .

Predominantly agricultural, the economy of Manipur is characterized by high incidence of poverty, high rate of unemployment, high deficit in infrastructure, lack of connectivity, zero industrialization and geographical isolation, the memorandum said, adding the per capita income of the State at current prices (2012-13) is Rs 36,290 against the all India average of Rs 68,757 .

It said Article VIII of the Merger Agreement, 1949 made on September 1949 between the Governor General of India and His Highness, the Maharaja of Manipur provides: "The Government of India shall also undertake to make suitable provisions for the employment of Manipuris in the various branches of public services and in every way encourage Manipuris to join them.

They also undertake to preserve various laws, customs and conventions prevailing in the State pertaining to the social, economic and religious life of the people" .

This part of the agreement is relevant to economic backwardness, rising unemployment and social unrest in the State, the BJP said in the memorandum.

It requested the Manipur Government to take appropriate action for specifying the ethnic communities�Meitei, Meitei-Pangal, Meitei Bamon and other tribes as Scheduled Tribes since the matter is of great public importance.

The memorandum also urged the Government to take steps for obtaining resolution of the Manipur Legislative Assembly in its ensuing session and approval of the Government of India on priority basis.

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