Centre responds to delist 'Nomadic Chin Kuki' from ST list submission
Recommendations sought from Imphal
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, January 08 2024: State Government's recommendation is a prerequisite to process inclusion or removal of a tribe from Scheduled Tribes list, said the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India in a letter to Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Manipur.

The Central Ministry of Tribal Affairs wrote the letter to the Government of Manipur in response to a representation to delist "Nomadic Chin Kuki" from the list of Scheduled Tribes.

The letter, in a way, sought the recommendation of the State Government "to process the case further" .

The letter written by Ashish Kumar Agrawal, Under Secretary to the Government of India, noted that the Scheduled Tribes (STs) are notified under Article 342 of the Constitution.

It said inclusion of a tribe in the ST list or other modifications require recommendation of the State Government concerned.

Only the proposals recommended by the State Government concerned and agreed to by the Registrar General of India (RGI) and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) are considered for amendment of legislation, said the letter.

The Government of India had on June 15, 1999 (and further revised on June 25, 2002 and September 14, 2022) approved modalities for determining claims for inclusion in and other modifications in the list of STs.

"As per these modalities, only proposals recommended and justified by the State Government concerned and agreed to by RGI (Registrar General of India) as well as NCST (National Commission for Scheduled Tribes) are considered for amendment of legislation" .

The recommendation of the State Government concerned is a prerequisite to process the case further, said the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

Notably, the representation submitted to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs came amid heightened demand to delist Kukis from the ST list of the Indian Constitution.

Many sections of people, and organisations including Meitei Leepun, World Meetei Council and others have made similar calls.

Meitei Leepun, in particular, has asserted that the Kukis aren't indigenous people of Manipur and they should be "removed" from the list of STs.

The organisation had said, "Only Meiteis and Nagas have the Constitutional right to demand enlistment in the ST status in the context of Manipur but not the Kukis." The Meitei, Naga and Kuki are dominant tribes in Manipur.

While the Nagas and Kukis have been recognised as Scheduled Tribes, the Meiteis have not been included in the list, arguably, excluded as a recognised tribe when Manipur merged with the Union of India.

The Meiteis as a community have been demanding recognition as a Scheduled Tribe since the last few decades.

Several civil organisations, particularly, the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee Manipur has been leading the public movement.

Significantly, the demand for inclusion of Meiteis in the ST list has been in the spotlight in the backdrop of the current conflict between Meiteis and Kukis involving armed militants under Suspension of Operation (SoO) Agreement with the Central Government and Manipur State Government.

An order of the High Court of Manipur on March 27, 2023 directing the State Government to send recommendation sought by the Central Ministry of Tribal Affairs in 2013 for consideration of inclusion of Meiteis in the ST list has been shown as the "trigger" of the May 3 violence that led to the current more than 8-month long turmoil.

Violence broke out on May 3 at several areas in Bishnupur bordering Churachandpur district when Kuki protesters taking part in a massive rally turned violent.

Men armed with AK-Rifles were seen amid the protesters who vandalised and burnt down Meitei houses and shops in the border area between the districts.

The rally was organised by the All Tribal Students' Union Manipur (ATSUM) denouncing the High Court's direction to the State Government.

Whereas similar rallies were held in Naga dominated areas also, all other areas except Kuki dominated Churachandur remained peaceful.

Even as the HC's direction to the State Government to send the recommendations was identified as the "trigger" of the violence, on the ground, the State Government's unilateral decision to withdraw from the SoO Agreement with two Kuki militant organisations (Kuki National Army and Zomi Revolutionary Army), its crackdown on industry-scale poppy cultivation in the hills, eviction drives against encroachers on Reserved and Protected Forests, and drives taken up to identify illegal immigrants are seen as the cause of the May 3 violence.

While the Meiteis' ST demand has been dubbed the cause and the trigger of the conflict, interestingly, the Nagas who are a concerned party in matters relating to Meiteis' ST demand are not part of the conflict and they have stayed away from all confrontations since May 3 .

More than eight months into the conflict, the Meiteis' ST demand is nowhere mentioned as an issue by both warring communities and their organisations.

The Kukis and their MLAs and frontal organisations including Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) since early May have only repeatedly demanded creation of a separate administration for Chin-Kuki-Zo people carved out of the State of Manipur.

The Meiteis are limited to only around 10% of the land in Manipur, as the rest of the State is classified as tribal areas.

While Meitei can't buy land in areas recognised as tribal areas (90 % of the total land), the members of the Scheduled Tribes and all other communities can reside and buy land in the less than 10 percent land in the valley.

Meiteis claim they have been gradually marginalised in their ancestral land.

Their population which was 59% of the total population of Manipur in 1951 has now been reduced to 44% as per 2011 Census.

Meanwhile, the Meiteis have vociferously raised the issue of illegal immigrants pouring in from foreign countries, especially Myanmar and they have demanded the Government of India to exercise the National Register of Citizens (NRC) which will help identify and deport illegal immigrants.

They have claimed that there has been a sharp increase in the number of new villages in several districts bordering Myanmar.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh has recently claimed that around 900 new villages surfaced in several districts between 2006 and 2018 .

Comment