Demands for ILP and ST status by the Meiteis
Diplomacy of occupation and domination of hill territories?

Ceety Khongsai *

Meitei : Ethnic Doll at Mutua Museum's Cultural Heritage Complex in 2008

Ethnic diversity as a unique characteristic of Manipuri society today will become a history if the demand for scheduled tribe status by the Meitei got succeeded and contemporary Meitei origin history of mythical Pakhangba theory will need a revisit in so far as the hill tribes, who the Meiteis claim as brothers traces their place of origins in the hill caves or holes and not at the Kangla valley, the epicenter of Meitei history. To abridge these two vertical theories, historians and scholars will have to do intensive scientific research to authenticate racial affinity of the various tribes and rewrite our history to prove that we are but one family.

And, if New Delhi concurred ST status to the Meiteis, it will be a new chapter in the annals of Manipur history because a dominant community hitherto basking in the limelight of affluent Indian society as civilized people for over half a century has ironically realizes its true identity and desperately aspire to be a tribal, a social status which they sniffed as underdogs afore. In addition, the movement for Inner Line Permit (ILP), if materialized, will have lasting implications in every aspect of hill-valley relations, and the ultimate consequence of such a relation will be abolition of chieftainship or Village authority through imposition of MLR & LR Act in the name of good governance to facilitate infiltration of the Meiteis into the hill areas.

But, the question is, will the conscientious minds of the Meitei intellectuals and world class academicians enthusiastically accept the demeaning social status and embraces the hill tribes as their own brothers without any malice from the innermost corner of their heart? Now, the ILP and ST status demands swiftly crosses this thorny state's boundaries and even non-resident Meitei Manipuri from London or elsewhere in the world have join the 'Backward Movement' and exerted optimum pressure on Indian leadership to baptize them as 'new tribal' taking constitutional ambiguity vis-a-vis tribe recognition.

The history of the much hype Inner Line Permit system begins with the erstwhile colonial administration in India. It was introduced as a protective shield to protect and safeguard the half-clad hill tribes from being assimilated by the numerically larger, socially more advanced and economically self-reliant dominant communities. It was a preservation sanctuary of tribal identity.

Even after Indian independence in 1947, the socio-economic conditions of these tribes still need special attention. Therefore, the new constitution under the Sixth Schedule incorporated a special provision for protection and safeguarding of tribal from assimilation, encroachment, suppression, domination etc. by the dominant communities. Under the said provision, non-tribals including the Meiteis are constitutionally prohibited from buying even a piece of land belonging to the tribals besides forbidding them to enter and settle in the hill areas without a pass known as Inner Line Permit. The crux of the ILP & ST demands lies here.

In fact, the Meiteis, who claim to have had an uninterrupted long dynastic history since immemorial times and also conveniently outclass all other aboriginal hill tribes in all walks of life, are restive of the 'prohibition to buy and settle in the hill areas' restrictions put to them. This is what the Meitei regrets for registering amongst the general category of Indian society.

And, history is a testimony to the fact that several attempts had already been made in the past by Meitei majority led successive governments in the sixty-member state assembly for a constitutional mandate to get rid of the 'prohibition shield' by introducing Municipal provisions of Town Committees, Village Councils in lieu of Village Authority, Expansion of Police Jurisdictions in the Hill Districts and repeated attempt to enforce MLR & LR Act in the interior parts of Manipur. The hill men, as such, surmise the ILP issue as an old wine in a new bottle and nothing more or nothing less.

The virtue of socio-economic and political advancement has invariably made the Meiteis a dominant community (DC) in Manipur. Interestingly, this DC status which they gleefully enjoy for so long as a mark of racial superiority and civilization over the hill tribes has ostensibly impedes their overall development and reduce them to a backward status which they adieu 60 years ago.

It is a universal truth that human society moves forward or, from primitive to modern, and the claim that Meitei society backtracks from civilized society to backward society is devoid of reason indigestible to all logical thinkers. It may, therefore, be infer that the bottom line of ILP movement is nothing but a geopolitical stratagem to intrude into the hill areas and intrusion of majority community into their domain is being viewed by the tribal as akin to suppression of their rights- to themselves and over their lands.

The cheap propaganda of prohibiting mainland Indians from upsetting demographic scenario of the state as claimed by the ILP protagonists lack reason in so far as not a single mainland Indians enlisted themselves as voters in the hill areas. Verily, had there been any threat on tribal demographic scene, the highly protective vigil eyes of the tribal would never remained blur to allow such intrusions.

In plain words, Inner Line Permit is meant for protection of the hill tribes and the voluntary representative style of ILP movement launch by the dominant valley Meiteis for their hill brothers is construe as a sinister ploy engineered craftily by anti-tribal self-proclaimed leaders to enslave the hill people and their territory.

From now on, the 13th July will inevitably become another controversial day in Manipur. The Meiteis, who now claim themselves as tribal will undoubtedly observe the day as 'Schedule Tribe Day' or 'Tribe Realization Day' with merriment and gaiety. On the other hand, the indigenous hill tribes naturally will reciprocate the euphoria as 'Gloomy-day' with fasting and prayers because the hill territories which they occupied and claimed as ancestral land with exclusive ownership right since human memory can recall shall stand void and a new form of land holding systems will be incorporated to the constitution to consolidate the 1980s “Lanmei Thanmi's” geopolitical crusade of Ching-Tam (Hill-Valley) brotherhood and co-ownership of all territories in Manipur.

The Hill tribes are not averse to Ching-Tam brotherhood and integrity but skeptical about the motive of the valley Meiteis' homecoming into the tribal fold. While the deep scars of hatred (Hao t*u) and the excruciating pain of humiliations (Hao apangba) inflicted to the tribal is still afresh in their hearts, it will naturally be not easy to persuade the tribal to accept the perpetrators as their brothers.

Logically unsound and practically unacceptable to the hill men is the ST demand. If the ST demand basically aim for constitutional manna of reservation quotas as guaranteed to the tribal communities, it will be a Himalayan blunder to drag in the entire Meitei society into tribal family because 'Reservation Quotas' are temporary arrangement which may be abolish any time by the government. In such eventuality, will the Meiteis still cling to tribal status? Or, should they reverse back to their earlier social status? Further, if reservations are the ultimate goal, then, the Meiteis already had enjoyed reservation benefits/quotas by claiming Other Backward Classes (OBC) status which is equivalent to ST reservations.

The inclusion of Meitei language as one of the major Indian languages under the 8th Schedule of the Indian constitution is a crystal proof of its civilized society and the protection given to them. In simple words, the Meiteis are well protected under the constitution of India and, the demand for additional constitutional protection is perceive by the hill tribes as direct frontal attack to grapple their insignificant reservation benefits given to them by the Indian government. By becoming ST plus OBC, the Meiteis will become the superpower community in Manipur, and such an imbalanced society will result in social disharmony and territorial disintegration.

Therefore, to my fellow Manipuris, if we honestly believe in our past history and keenly desire to build a new Manipuri society, the dominant Meitei community need to change their chauvinistic mindset and take the initiative of confidence building at the ground level. The vacuum of hill-valley emotional gap can be filled by redesigning our mental outlook toward one another. Inter-community cultural programmes with special themes of exploring the rich cultural heritage of our composite society and the inseparable fraternal bond as abundantly afloat in our traditional folktales and folklores may be effective in re-cementing the hill-valley emotional ditch.

Frankly, Meitei centric cinema films, over-active Meitei Mayek campaign, Meitei bias lilas (Dramas) and lyrics have the negative impact of Meiteinization apprehensions and feeling of alienation, suppression, assimilation, domination etc. into the budding minds of the tribal. Suspicions and mutual distrust is the greatest enemy that befalls our present generation.

If the ILP & ST status demands truly aim in rediscovering the consanguinal ties between the hill tribes and the valley Meiteis New Delhi has no answer. Should we need somebody to prove our brotherhood? Or, if the ILP & ST demands is meant for extension of Panchayati Raj institutions in the hills, the hyper protective and dare devil heart spirit of the head hunters will not let it go without giving a ferocious fight. The solutions lies in, 'Ichil inao phamminaraga taminasi'!