More than a note of condemnation : Nature and the Meiteis
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 17, 2024 -

The Sangai Express hopes the readers went beyond the obvious and read and understood the spirit of the statement issued by the Delhi Meitei Coordinating Committee (DMCC).

Rightfully, the communication to the media was to condemn the abduction and cold blooded murder of four villagers who had gone to collect firewood at Haotak Mapalok Chakpi Ching in Bishnupur district on January 20.

The condemnation needs to be noted, but equally important is also to note the clear relationship drawn up between the Meitei community and nature, the hills in this case in the said statement.

This should not only rubbish the theory that has been floated by some elements that the four were killed when they had ventured out to ‘steal’ and fell trees in the hills, but should also underline how closely associated the Meiteis, as a community are, to nature.

This is the reason why Meiteis continue to worship nature, why a number of hills and hillocks have been designated as abodes of the Almighty and accordingly worshipped.

The Cheiraoching that stands tall plum in the heart of Imphal in Thangmeiband and Chingmeirong should underline the point of the close ties between nature and the Meitei community.

Something very different from those who have had no compunction in stripping the hills of all vegetation just to plant poppy and in the process poison the ecology and spell the death knell of many youngsters.

Nurture nature and make a living out of the abundance of nature, is a line that defines all community which have a close tie with nature and the Meiteis fit this bill snugly.

Mount Koubru, Mount Thangjing not Thangting, Mount Baruni are some examples that come to mind and stretch this understanding and one is instantly reminded of the sacred that is associated with the compound that one lives in, including the very house.

The umbilical cord that ties the Meiteis with Mother Nature is also best exemplified by the worship of Umang Lai, a practise that continues to define the socio-religious characteristics of the Meiteis and there is a reason why the Meiteis were tagged a Forest Tribe by the British long before India attained independence in 1947.

Call it the folly of history, but it was this folly which led to the Meiteis being left out of the Scheduled list of tribal groups in India after the Constitution of India came into force in 1950.

A tribal group left out of the Scheduled list of tribals and this is the story of the Meiteis after the Constitution of India came into force in 1950.

Left out, but this should and cannot be the reason why the wrongs of history cannot be corrected now and the Meitei tribe finds a place in the Scheduled list of the tribals of India.

This is exactly what the champions of the ST for Meiteis have been demanding, starting from the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee, Manipur (STDCM), World Meetei Council (WMC), Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union, Kangleipak Kanba Lup and important to note too that in all these years the ST demand for the Meiteis have never, ever been violent.

This is where one may raise the question of why the Tribal Solidarity March of May 3, 2023 had to turn violent and why Meitei houses were identified, singled out, burnt and levelled to the ground at Torbung and Churachandpur.

This soon spread to Kangpokpi and Moreh and the days since May 3, 2023 stand as mute testimony, though there are the parachute journalists, who had conveniently side stepped these facts.

As repeatedly stressed here, it was not the ST for Meiteis demand against which the Tribal Solidarity March was organised but this cooked up narrative has only gone to add more muscle and teeth to the demand that the Meiteis be included in the ST list of the Constitution of India.

Not related in a sense, but it is also significant to note that the Union Tribal Ministry has already sought an opinion from the State Government on the demand that the Chin-Kuki be delisted from the ST category of the Constitution.

Read this with the point highlighted to stop issuing ST certificates to non-indigenes and things certainly cannot get more clear.

One ostensibly marching against the ST demand for Meiteis and the other calling to delist non-indigenes from the ST list and here lies the the point that ATSUM may have bitten off more than it can chew.