Litmus test for Govt's commitment
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: January 10, 2024 -

In a significant development that would serve as a litmus test for the Chief Minister N Biren Singh-led BJP government in Manipur to its avowed commitment of protecting the interest of indigenous people, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has made it clear that the recommendation of the state government concerned is a pre-requisite for initiating the process of inclusion or removal of a tribe from the list of Scheduled Tribes.

In response to a representation submitted by Republican Party of India (Athawale) national general secretary Maheshwar Thounaojam to Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda on December 12, 2023 requesting deletion of the 'nomadic Chin-Kuki from the list of STs of Manipur; Ashish Kumar Agrawal, who is the under-secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Tribal Affairs (C & LM), has dispatched a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Manipur on December 26, 2023, explaining that "the Scheduled Tribes (STs) are notified under Article 342 of the Constitution of India and the Government of India had on 15.6.1999 (and further revised on 25.6.2002 and 14.9.2022) approved modalities for determining claims for inclusion in and other modifications in the list of STs."

The letter further explained that as per these modalities, only proposals recommended and justified by the state government concerned and agreed to by Registrar General of India (RGI) as well as National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) are considered for amendment of legislation.

All the actions are taken as per approved modalities and the recommendation of the concerned state government is prerequisite to process the case further.

To cut the story short, the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs has sought the requisite recommendation from the Government of Manipur to initiate the process for delisting of nomadic Chin-Kuki from the list of STs.

Following the outbreak of ethnic conflict between the Meitei/Meetei and Kuki-Chin people in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur since May 3 last year and the subsequent demand for a separate administration for the Kuki-Chin people, many of the facts that were earlier oblivious to the common people have come to light and the claim of the indigeneity of Kuki-Chin people put under question.

Along with this, there has been growing demand for delisting Kuki-Chin people, who are grouped together as "Any Kuki tribe" from the list of STs.

Although many civil society organisations of the Meitei/Meetei including World Meetei Council and Meitei Leepun are at the forefront of raising this demand, United Naga Council (UNC), which is an apex body of around 20 Naga tribes in Manipur who have so far stayed neutral to the current conflict, has also been very vocal against the distortion of history of Manipur by Kuki-Chin people to reassert their indigeneity and made it clear on more than one occasion that the representations submitted by advocates of separate administration for the Kuki-Chin people to the Government of India, Israeli Prime Minister, European Parliament, United Nations, etc., are based on false territorial foundation with "an attempt to befool those authorities...".

Taking into consideration of all these factors, it should not be so difficult for the Chief Minister N Biren Singh-led BJP government to take a stand on sending the requisite recommendation to the Government of India for the deletion of 'nomadic' Chin-Kuki from the list of STs of Manipur if it truly has the political will and commitment to protect the interest of indigenous people.

However, in the current situation where everything that Chief Minister N Biren Singh does is being projected by the Kuki-Chin leaders as Meitei/Meetei centric politics while the Meitei/ Meetei people themselves think that he is being soft in dealing with the Kuki-Chin aggression, it may be easier said done.

Nonetheless, Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who has called upon the people for enduring the suffering brought on by the current conflict for some more time so that the future generations could live with dignity for the next 1000 years, should remember the State Cabinet decision taken way back in March, 2021 for deletion of the contentious Any Kuki Tribe from the list of STs.

This in a way shows that the state government has already started the process and all it has to do now is to send the requisite recommendation for completing the process.