Raising ST call a notch or two higher : August deadline set for Govt
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 26, 2024 -

Remains to be seen how the Government will respond, but perhaps this is the first time that a deadline has been set for the Government to send the socio-economic and ethnographic report of the Meiteis to the Centre to study whether the said community fits the bill to be included in the Scheduled Tribe list of the Constitution of not.

And it is the World Meetei Council which has set the ultimatum this time and one wonders how the other ST for Meitei champions such as the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee, Manipur (STDCM), the Meetei/Meitei Tribe Union (MMTU) and others which have been raising the same demand would respond to the timeframe, but it should be clear that the WMC has already set a time frame for the Government to act.

There could be reasons why Imphal is still reluctant to send the report, but it should be clear to all that the job of the State Government is to just send the report and see how the different Ministries at the Centre respond to the report.

And it was way back in 2013 that the Centre had sought the report, so it is not something new.

It was not out in the public platform that the Centre had sought such a report, and it was through the sustained campaign launched by the STDCM, WMC, MMTU and others that it became public knowledge.

The question then is, if the Meiteis do not fit the bill to be included in the ST list, then why should there be such a strong opposition to it ?

The Tribal Solidarity March of May 3, 2023 was staged on a lie, a lie that has been debunked many times in this column and the violence that erupted at Churachandpur during the rally should more than underline the point that the real objectives of the rally were something very different.

It is not the judiciary which can decide whether the Meiteis fit the bill to be included in the ST list or not but Parliament and all that the High Court had asked the State Government was to send the report which Delhi had sought back in 2013.

Delimitation exercise which will be taken up in 2026 is the reason why the WMC has set the time frame for Imphal to send the report and the logic behind this stand should be understood.

If at all delimitation is carried out on the basis of the 2011 census then chances of the 40 Assembly seats, which are not scheduled may go the scheduled areas, where the Meiteis will not be allowed to contest the election.

A look at the Assembly seats from the valley area which fall in the Outer Lok Sabha seat should drive home the point that is sought to be made here.

A false sense of superiority and a misplaced understanding associated with the term tribals, led the Meiteis to miss the bus on more than one occasion in the past and one just has to recall how the proposal to send the needed report to include the Meiteis in the ST list fell flat on its face.

This was 1981 when the late Rishang Keishing was the Chief Minister.

The same error was repeated when former Governor of the State, the late Ved Marwah offered to use his office to see if the Meiteis can be included in the ST list, but then again this proposal was turned down by Meitei leaders themselves.

A line recalled by the late Governor in his book, India in Turmoil : Jammu and Kashmir, the North East and Left Extremism and the proposal was made while he was Governor of Manipur from 1999 to 2003.

A classic case of missed chances, but there is no reason why the Meiteis should continue treading the same erroneous path and this is a point which Imphal should acknowledge.

As repeatedly mentioned in this column, it will do the place and the people good if the ST for Meitei champions such as the STDCM, WMC, MMTU and others reach out to the other indigenous group of people, the Nagas and see if a common meeting ground can be reached with them.

Should not hurt anyone in trying to take everyone along with the demand of the Meiteis.

August is the deadline served by the WMC and one will have to wait and see what steps WMC takes up in case the Government fails to send the report sought by New Delhi.