Arguments over ST tag demand : Meiteis are indigenes
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: November 29, 2022 -

Is it a debate at all?

Or is it more a case of 'you remain where you are or be what you are, though your land, your resources are under constant threat and you have no business to ask for any sort of Constitutional protection' argument put forth by some, particularly the All Tribal Students' Union, Manipur?

And it is seemingly with this line of argument that representatives of the said student body knocked the doors of Delhi to oppose the point raised by the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee, Manipur (STDCM), World Meetei Council, Kangleipak Kanba Lup (KKL) and others that the Meiteis should be given some sort of Constitutional protection by including them in the Scheduled Tribe list.

Send the needed recommendations is the line maintained by the pro-ST group to the State Government and this has come about after the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs wrote to Imphal on May 29, 2013 to send the needed recommendations to include the Meeteis/Meiteis in the ST list of the Constitution.

Is the ATSUM or anyone else competent enough to decide which community should be granted the ST tag or is there something more than just taking an opposing stand to the point which should have been raised a long time back is a line of thought that comes to mind.

In the long years of its campaign, the STDCM or the WMC or any pro-ST lobby, has never ever questioned the veracity of any community which has been included in the ST list of the Constitution but after ATSUM started lobbying at New Delhi, the Kangleipak Kanba Lup did come out with a no holds barred statement.

The World Meetei Council too did the same in a representation addressed to the Prime Minister questioning the antecedents of some of the communities which have raised the objection to the ST demand.

Not exactly a pretty picture but this is the reality at the moment and this is something which The Sangai Express had expressed apprehension about earlier.

That the Meiteis are indigenous to the land of Manipur is a fact which no one can negate.

That it has its own distinct culture is another fact that cannot be countered and they have survived or lived or even prospered in geographical isolation is again a truism.

That the land the Meiteis occupy is always under threat of being overwhelmed, is again a fact that no one, least of all ATSUM can counter.

It is against this reality that the demand the Meeteis/Meiteis be included in the ST list has been raised.

Majority of the Meetei/ Meitei community are Hindus, but being Hindus should not mean that one cannot be a tribal.

There seems to be no meeting point between the stand of STDCM, WMC, KKL and others and ATSUM at the moment, and as The Sangai Express has always maintained, it is not ATSUM or Imphal or anyone which will have the final say on whether the Meiteis fit the bill to be tagged a Scheduled Tribe, but the Centre.

This is a point which should be respected by everyone.

If ATSUM or any of the present tribal groups are apprehensive of the share of their cake being overwhelmed by the Meiteis if they are categorised as STs, then there are internal arrangements which can always be worked out.

To come anywhere near this point, the trust deficit between the tribals and the Meiteis will need to be addressed and sincerely approaching this point is the first important step.

And the first step to acknowledge is the fact that there is indeed a trust deficit between the two. Remains to be seen how many would be sincere enough to take this line.

The bottomline however is, why should efforts to protect the land and interests of the Meiteis be detrimental to anyone?