Send needed inputs to Centre : WMC
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 31 2024: Even as the State Assembly had its first sitting of the monsoon session today, the World Meetei Council has stepped up its call on the Government to send a recommendation to the Centre to recognise Meitei/Meetei as a Scheduled Tribe (ST) community.

The State Assembly must unanimously take a resolution supporting the ST demand and send the recommendation along with the latest socio-economic survey and ethnographic report to the Central Ministry of Tribal Affairs by August, said the World Meetei Council (WMC) in a statement.

It sought the attention of the Chief Minister and emphasised that the ST status holds more significance than the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which has its complexities and impracticalities in implementation.

Send needed inputs to Centre : WMC

Chief Minister N Biren Singh has time and again advocated for the NRC as the number one priority to detect and deport illegal immigrants, but he should be aware of the fact that the exercise will fall short of its intended goal, said WMC.

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is good in theory, but its application is complicated and will not be feasible in a State like Manipur, it said.

Even if it is able to detect the illegal immigrants, the aftermath of the exercise will run into serious obstacles.

As human beings can't be treated as trash, the detention and deportation processes afterward would be a massive human rights issues and other legal problems, said the WMC citing the exercise carried out in neighbouring Assam.

Notably, the NRC has been implemented in Assam only and it has been claimed that the exercise wasn't as effective as expected.

Citing the Assam exercise, WMC said the NRC would simply be a waste of time and the Govt should instead focus on taking up the necessary steps to grant ST status to the Meitei/Meetei community.

The ST status is the only option available to the Meiteis/Meeteis to safeguard and protect the community Constitutionally.

The ongoing State Assembly must unanimously take a stand and send the recommendation and the reports concerned to the Central Ministry of Tribal Affairs by August, it added.

The WMC in association with Meira Paibis staged a demonstration demanding ST status at Sekmaijin Khunou Youth ground yesterday.