ST demand runs into hill opposition
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

Imphal, October 12 2018: The United Naga Council (UNC), the Zomi Council and the Hmar Inpui have apprised the Government of India against the demand raised by the "Meitei/Meetei community for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status" .

The three hill based organizations submitted a joint memorandum to Jaswanthsinh Bhabhor, Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Government of India, today in this regard.

It was a lengthy memorandum running into several pages complete with relevant statistics and data.

According to a joint memorandum, on grounds of National and international ethical and moral norms, the Meiteis/Meeteis cannot be included under the ST list.

"Such an idea of an already developed society regressing into underdeveloped and backward tribal society ridicules the very terms 'underdevelopment' and 'backwardness'", the memorandum of the UNC, the Zomi Council and the Hmar Inpui said.

"We seek for and beseech your Hon'ble self s thoughtful consideration and wise counsel in this regard," the memorandum said.

"We remain profoundly indebted to your Hon'ble self for your thoughtful reflections of the consequences before any further steps are taken towards considering the demands of Scheduled Tribal Demand Committee of Manipur Valley (STDCMV)," the three hill based organizations mentioned in the memorandum.

"While it is not within the power of any Indian citizen to deny another the democratic right to demand certain privileges as magnanimously granted by the Indian Constitution, it is also within the power of any Indian citizen to freely express opinions and question the validity and consequences of such demands.

It is, therefore, on this premise that the joint tribal apex bodies would like to intervene," said the UNC, the Zomi Council and the Hmar Inpui.

The three tribal bodies said that it is not their intention to ignore the affinities, especially linguistic, that exist between the hill tribals and the Meiteis/Meeteis.

According to the memorandum of the three hill based organizations, close proximity of the tribal societies with the Meiteis/Meeteis have certainly resulted in enormous sharing, diffusion and borrowing of cultural traits such as beliefs, dress, food, values, languages, knowledge and even folktales and folklores.

As such, the Meiteis/Meeteis' claim of having linguistic affinity to Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Naga origin is, therefore without doubt, a fact, the memorandum said.

"However the criteria for becoming a tribal do not rest solely on claims of linguistic affinities alone.

We just cannot imagine the outcome if all those who have linguistic affinities are clubbed as one without taking into consideration the other crucial elements and factors that classify a community as tribal or non-tribal," the memorandum added.

According to the memorandum, if linguistic affinity is to be the yardstick in recognizing the Meiteis/Meeteis as Scheduled Tribe, then, it would become perfectly alright for Caucasoid Indians to call themselves Germans, Italians or Greeks and vice-versa as the languages of these peoples all have a common Aryan origin.

"While it is not the intention of the joint tribal apex bodies to blindly reject the Meitei ST demand, we would like to strongly and collectively put forward, inter alia, some crucial socio-political, socioeconomic and ethno-geographical realities for sober considerations by all concerned," the memorandum added.

The three hill based organizations stated that "until and unless" proper Constitutional protections with special administrative provisions specifically and exclusively for the currently recognised 34 hill tribes of Manipur are put in place and their implementation without any outside interference a mandatory requirement, the Meitei ST demand should not be further entertained so as to avoid a disoriented, highly volatile and destructive state of relationship and existence between the hill tribes and the Meiteis/Meeteis.

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