WMC takes ST movement to Assam
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, May 26 2024:
The Assam unit of the World Meetei Council (WMC) staged a sit-in-protest at Nandapur Charali, Hojai in Assam today with a demand to send the necessary recommendation to the Centre for enlistment of Meetei/Meitei in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list of the Constitution.
The demand was addressed to Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
As per a statement issued by WMC (Assam unit), the protest demonstration was organised in association with Apunba Meira Paibi Lup Brahmaputra Valley (AMPLBV), Assam Pradesh Manipuri Association (APMA) and United Manipuri Association Assam (UMAA).
The council asked why N Biren has not been sending the latest socio-economic and ethnographic reports of Meetei/Meitei to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and let the Centre handle the matter.
The Meeteis living in Assam have been demanding ST status to protect their identity much before the Meeteis in Manipur, the council said.
Stating that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had assured to begin the process of to granting ST status to Meeteis in Assam the very next day the Meeteis in Manipur become ST, the council added that the fct of the matter is Meeteis in Assam won't get the ST status until the Meeteis in Manipur become one (Scheduled Tribe).
Asserting that only constitutional protection in the form of ST can protect the Meeteis, the council, on behalf of Meeteis in Assam, urged N Biren to send the recommendation as desired by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs so that the process of inclusion of Meetei in the Scheduled Tribe's list may be completed before the delimitation of 2026 .