ST for Meiteis call before elections : Right noise at right time
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 05, 2024 -

It should be obvious.

Resolving the now 11 months old ethnic clash should be on top of the agenda of all political parties and their candidates in the days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, for which Manipur will go to polls on April 19 and April 26.

This is all that more true for the Inner seat where the Meiteis 'have to settle' thanks to some provisions of the Constitution but lest it is forgotten there are other pressing issues which the people should put before the candidates and' the political parties they represent at the hustings.

It was in May, 2013 that the Centre had sought a report or recommendation from the State Government on the proposal to include the Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe list of the Constitution of India.

The report sought was to be based on a socio-economic survey of the Meiteis plus an ethnographic report.

More than ten years down the line and there is nothing to suggest that any initiative has been taken up to send the sought report to the Centre.

And let it also be very clear, the directive of the High Court of Manipur to the State Government some time in 2023 was to just send the report and it was not at all a directive to include the Meiteis in the ST list.

Surely the High Court knows better that including a community in the ST list is beyond its briefs and it is only Parliament which can decide on this.

It was along this line that on April 1, 2024, the Khwairamband Ima Keithel Joint Coordinating Committee reminded Imphal to send the sought report.

That this is not going to be a one off thing can be gauged from the fact that on April 4, 2024 a large number of people gathered at Lamlong Keithel to raise the ST for Meiteis demand with the Lamlong Keithel Phambi Apunba Nupi Lup and the World Meetei Council and its youth wing leading the way.

A case of making the right noise at the right time, though it remains to be seen how much of an impact this call would have at the hustings and this is where one wished that the call had been raised a little earlier to have more impact on the coming elections.

Much have been written on how the Meiteis fulfil the criteria to be included the ST category and yet at the same there have also been voices of opposition raised to this demand.

The Sangai Express has been keeping its doors open to the 'for' and 'against' stand on the ST for Meiteis debate and the divergent viewpoints should ideally open the eyes of all concerned, for central to all the two opposing viewpoints is the position of the Meiteis in their own ancestral land.

It is along this line that one should try to understand why former Governor of Manipur, the late Ved Marwah had given such a meaningful insight in his book 'India in turmoil Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast and left extremism' that the 'Meiteis are no less tribal in their way of living than the Nagas.'

An observation made while he was Governor of Manipur from 1999 to 2003.

That the offer from the late former Governor to take up the matter of the Meiteis with the Central Government to be put at par with the other tribal group/s of the State was rejected by none but some Meiteis should tell another story of missing the bus.

The point is, are the Meiteis set to miss the bus again even though the Centre had sought the needed report back in 2013?

Only time will tell and this is where those at the forefront of the ST of Meiteis demand need to look beyond petitioning the State Government to send the report but also see how all may be taken along.

What efforts have been made to reach out to the Nagas on the ST for Meiteis demand ?

This is an important question and brushing this aside with the argument 'We are not asking anything from the Nagas' would sound juvenile for it never hurts to see if all concerned can be taken along.

Earlier before the said right noise was made ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee, Manipur undertook the exercise of calling on each of the Meitei MLAs to see their stand on the ST for Meiteis demand and perhaps this is the right time see how these two can blend to make it more meaningful.

See where the MLAs stand on the question of backing the party or candidate which back the ST for Meiteis demand.

Or if this is not politically feasible; for what is at stake is the Parliamentary election, then let it be made known that the stand the respective MLAs had taken earlier is significant at this point of time.

The challenges ahead are many, but this should be all the more reason for the ST advocates to study all the possible avenues to give more push to the demand.