Why Meitei Should Not Be Scheduled as Tribe
- Part 1 -

Kulajit Maisnam *

Peoples' Convention on 'Scheduled Tribe Status In Manipur' at Iboyaima Shanglen on 14 May 2016 :: Pix - Shankar Khamgembam

Before the advent of the modern nation-state, it is known that the present geo-political entity Manipur was functionally based on material conditions centered around the fertile valley and the time to time covenants and treaties made with the Meitei Monarch and the various nationalities settled in the hills, and sometimes of dominance and subjugation making some of the nationalities to pay tribute to the Meitei monarch. And with the overpower of the entity by the British, the whole polity was restructured (the administrative division of Hills and Plains is attributed to the colonial intervention by many intellectuals) and became more exploitative to the population by introducing new 'economics'. Subsequently, Manipur was overtaken by India with no radical and accommodative structural changes in the polity of the state.

Indeed, it is very saddening to witness a once sovereign Manipur, having been annexed by India begin to resemble the opening of a pandora box where myriads of issues and conflicts of all kinds has emerged both vertically and horizontally. The horizontal conflict need not be necessarily and solely be attributed to the act of annexation by India but the annexation has cut short the organic process of a democratic nation-state formation which is supposed to be inhabited by numerous nationalities. We have been besieged by a concrete political framework which only yield majoritarianism and nothing else, a quasi-federation (as some Indian intellectuals defines) which operates on population logic; thus establishing a power matrix where Meiteis became the 'dominant' politically with the maximum seats in the state assembly.

Even though the highlands have been scheduled as tribal areas, the autonomy given to them has been minimal. Hence the expressions and aspirations of the highlanders became marginal. This very same matrix applies to the Meiteis in relation to the mainland Indians if we look at the larger polity of Indian Union, Meitei which is a 'dominant' community in Manipur is a microscopic nationality situated politically within the Indian Union. Thus this power matrix is systematically filtered down to the village level polity creating a string of hegemonic and heretical political expressions and practices.

Apart from political dominance, the Meiteis has been the 'mainstream' and has the sense of 'superiority' socially. With the advent of Hinduism, and the practice of casteism, othering of the highlanders has been rampant and continues till today (the terminology 'hao' finds its place derogatorily in the lexicon of the Meitei society till today both openly and insidiously). So with these socio-political processes, Meiteis became the dominating group in Manipur socially, politically and thus has been one of the major factors of hill-valley conflict which ails Manipur. This power matrix has been operational in the day to day lived experiences of the citizens of Manipur, in polity, economy and social interactions which have yielded an unequal valley centric socio-economic development.

Today the fertile valley of Manipur, home to the Meiteis, has been under a tremendous demographic changes wherein Meiteis faces the 'existential' crisis. A fear-psychosis has been shared among the populace that Meiteis will become minority in their own land as there is no regulatory mechanism to regulate the unabated migration from other parts of India. Thus to defend the population, there has been popular movements to monitor and regulate the demographic changes and land tenures.

The recent move to introduce Inner Line Permit System (ILPS) initiated in the valley spearheaded by Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) is one such assertions urging to protect the 'indigenous' people of Manipur, which ended up in an unprecedented opposition from the highlanders. It was perceived as another move by the majority Meiteis to 'encroach' upon territory of the highlands which the Meiteis does not traditionally own, and are owned in a different manner by the highlanders, and delegitimising the citizenship of the highlanders. Till today nine dead bodies remain unburied in Churachandpur signifying the opposition and resistance.

In midst of this turmoil, there has been another parallel move by few sections of Meiteis to schedule Meiteis as tribe under the Constitution of India spearheaded by Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee (STDC). The protagonists comprising of ex-servicemen, bureaucrats etc. claims that by scheduling Meiteis as tribes, the land, the people and its 'unique' 'glorious' culture will be constitutionally 'protected'. And there are 'freebies' attached: such as reservation policies, development funds etc. It is being argued that in the present 'political scenario' tribal status will be far 'lucrative' and 'feasible' to achieve and 'protect' the Meiteis as compared to the present Protection of Manipur Peoples Bill (PMP) 2015 and three other supplementary bills which is lying in President of India's table.

Even claims have been made to the extent that if Meiteis are scheduled as tribes and at the same time if 2015 bills turns into reality, these combination will complement each other and 'strengthen' the 'protection' provided to the Meiteis. No doubt the valley needs to be 'protected' and 'regulated' but the concern here is the possible negative dynamics within the Meitei society (yes within the Meitei society) and in relation to the highlanders if Meiteis are scheduled as tribes. I have a strong conviction that granting of tribal status will be perceived as more 'deadly' than the ILPS by the highlanders, as it has components of job and educational reservation and of course there is always the apprehension of structural territorial 'encroachment' which we have also seen in the case of ILPS bills (though the three bills are 'debatable', the politics surrounding the three bills has to be analysed in relation to the geo-politics of the state and is beyond the preview of this write-up)

No doubt the scheduling of Meiteis as tribe is 'legit' within the bounds of the Indian Constitution and there is no concrete definition of tribe, rather it is conceptualised as comprising of various parameters which has been changing from time to time within the contours of the socio-political context. So any community falling under those parameters can legitimately claim the status and enjoy the constitutional provisions. But why claim this 'legit' demand which will yield a possible catastrophe in the State and further strengthen the hill-valley dichotomy? For this very reason the present move needs a serious scrutiny by dissecting the movement itself and engaging with the possible ramifications.

So herein the line of argument opposing the move will be not on the thesis of Meiteis crossing the stage of 'tribe' guided by the Social Darwinism which projects a linear development of society, as sometimes such arguments succumbs to labelling the contemporary tribes as non-contemporary stuck in a particular stage of societal evolution, static, or in other words 'denial of coevalness' in the words of Johannes Fabian; hence requiring 'mainstreaming'. Rather my arguments will be more on dissecting the movement and the 'promises' espoused by the Demand Committee and the grounds for possible conflict among the various communities in Manipur and even among the Meiteis.

The Movement is premised on three core 'promises': Peace, harmony and equality among the communities (undoing the constitutional division is the loose phrase the demand committee is using in achieving the said 'promise') especially the highlanders and Meiteis; freebies and job opportunities in state services; protection of land and culture of the 'unprotected' Meiteis. First we need to identify these group of Meiteis who are demanding tribal status. The movement has been spearheading from the beginning by the 'creamy' section of the Meitei society who are well established comparatively and largely Imphalites. They include Ex-Army Men, retired Bureaucrats etc. Interestingly they are the propertied middle class unlike the standard sociological understanding of 'middle class' possessing feudal characteristics and mannerisms. Their sudden interest in ST status is quite intriguing.

It has also been said that claiming ST status is a 'temporary' 'arrangement' until Manipur determines its destiny by its own and develop a mutually respecting polity among the nationalities residing inside the state. Anyway the issue here is the proposed 'temporary' solution and its 'temporary' ramifications in the state. I have left with no other understanding than saying that these section of Meiteis 'for the time being' sees the 'creamy layer' concept in affirmative action policies of India a road block for their 'progress' as I very much convinced that their 'promises' are mere rethorics; cannot be operationalised within the larger political economy and the geo-politics of the state.

Creamy layer concept is applicable to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) identified by the government of India, which any Meitei can be listed and many do hold the certificate. The creamy layer refers to the relatively wealthier and better educated members of the OBCs who are 'not eligible' for government sponsored educational and professional benefit programs. And this concept is not there for the affirmative action related to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) (at the state level there are segregations within ST and SC depending on depending on the socio-economic situations of the scheduled population). Thus the 'creamy' section of the Meitei society is not 'eligible' for certain aspects of affirmative action in India. Now if one has to escape this, the only option left is to move to scheduling as Tribal as Scheduled Caste categorisation adopts a different Episteme. Their issues with this concept of creamy layer already been expressed in public domains and is quite derogatory and beyond the idea of social justice.

Affirmative action or reservation system otherwise has long history in India tracing it to the colonial times where certain 'depressed class' were given quotas in Jobs and Education to increase the opportunities for enhanced social, educational and economic status of the underprivileged communities to make in par with the 'mainstream' (many intellects still claims that Britishers have liberated the depressed class from certain practices of caste). In Manipur Meiteis are the 'mainstream'.

Again on the other side Biharis, Bengalis, Malayalis etc are the mainstream in relation to Meiteis. And within these nationalities are class/caste and other form of disadvantages etc. so you have affirmative actions at the central level and state level; filtering it down to the grass root. If the state of Manipur is declared as a tribal state, we can have a contextualised affirmative actions ('quota within a quota' as expressed by the Demand Committee). Now the fact of the matter is that, and which I am trying to make is that the state level affirmative actions will not be that 'lucrative' considering the number and frequency of the state government job opportunities (this the Demand Committee knows).

Currently Even the few jobs the state has, is being 'sold' to the 'creamy' section of the society which have enough 'capacity' to 'buy'. Whether one is scheduled as tribe of not it hardly matters in Manipur the creamy sections become creamier. So majority of the people who cannot afford to 'buy' jobs in Manipur moves to central services. Here in the opportunities of central services lies the issue of distributive justice when you do not have the concept of creamy layer or 'quota within quota' in reservations for ST. wherein meritocracy within the ST population will hijack social justice. It will also disturb the existing status quo among the Meiteis who are already clubbed as OBCs and SCs, which has somehow maintaining an equilibrium in quota distribution. The 'creamy' Meiteis which has the capacity to send their wards to fancy elitist private schools, tuition/coaching centers etc. will swallow the available opportunities at the maximum in central services and central sponsored educational institutes as they possess the 'eligibility' and 'merit'.

One may justify meritocracy being the best method to exercise one's ability to its full potential leading to the best outcomes. But who are these meritorious people? Who decides merit? Is there any standard method to access one's ability and merit? These are pertinent questions that need serious attention and examination. The so called 'meritorious' people has been the creamy Meiteis in Manipur. See the data of the last ten years who has been in the top ten list of the State's secondary and higher secondary exams. How many are highlanders? And if one delves further, these 'meritorious' students will always be from the well to do Meitei families.

In the history of Manipur among the Meiteis in the last ten years how many 'meritorious' students have come up who are the child of daily waged labourers? If this is the situation within the Meiteis, does the Demand Committee has any idea what will be the situation in relation to highlanders who are the 'periphery', when all the facilities and resources (health, education etc.) are centered around Imphal? Those who have the 'access' will be of course become the 'meritorious'. Meiteis will be 'meritorious' when you make Meitei language the 'official' and the medium of instruction in educational institutes starting from primary education.

How many schools are there in the highland villages which uses their own mother tongue as medium of instruction? If it exists, how many teachers are there who are from that village speaking the local dialect? Imagine a child has to learn a foreign language and at the same time learn 'modern knowledge' to be 'eligible' for jobs. Is it not another road block to become 'meritorious'? When you have so much of socio-economic disparities between hills and plains and discriminatory policies from top till the grassroot itself how can one justify meritocracy? Meritocracy will breed elitism, class antagonism. The move by the demand committee is a tight slap to the idea of social justice considering the current political economy of the State. When there is no equity how can you talk of equality?

To be continued....