MMTU clarifies
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, June 10 2024:
Only a small portion of a memorandum Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union (MMTU) submitted to Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his visit to the State in late May last year has been published by some on social media to mislead and hurt the sentiments of the people, said the union in a statement today.
The first page of the memorandum had statements that read "Government of India under the British colonial recognised the Meetei (Meitei) community as a tribe of the Kuki-Chin group of the Tibetan-Burman family" and "The said linguistic survey identifies Meitei as a tribe of the group of Kuki-Chin tribes of the Tibetan-Burman family and it gives a detailed analysis of the languages spoken by all Kuki-chin tribes including Meitei tribe" .
While this was a tactic which the MMTU employed from time to time to further the demand for ST status, the memorandum was 7 pages long, and the first page only can't represent the whole of the memorandum, said MMTU.
It asserted that the remaining pages of the memorandum clearly state that the Kuki-Chin and Meitei are different tribes, and while Meiteis are indigenous to Manipur, the Kuki-Chin aren't and they migrated here.
It said the office of the MMTU can be approached if interested people want to clearly understand the memorandum.