UNC, KIM have no right to oppose ST status to Meitei: KKL
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, April 27 2023:
The Kangleipak Kanba Lup (KKL) has categorically stated that neither the United Naga Council (UNC) nor the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) has any birthright to deny Scheduled Tribe status to any other community.
Apropos to the objections raised by the UNC and the KIM with regard to the High Court of Manipur's directive to the Government of Manipur to send its recommendations for inclusion of the Meetei community in the scheduled list of the tribes of India to the Centre within one week, the KKL has clarified that the Meeteis' demand for inclusion of the Meetei tribe in the scheduled list of tribes is not aimed at grabbing jobs either from the Naga or Kuki communities of Manipur but to safeguard their little bit of land now confined to less that 2000 square kilometres out of the 20,000 square kilometres of the entire State.
They need not fear about losing their job reservation quotas currently enforced in Manipur which will remain untouched.
And if any job opportunity arises, it will be on an all India basis where the Meiteis will be competing with other advanced tribes of India like the Bheels, for instance.
The UNC and the KIM have no birthright to deny job opportunities to other Scheduled Tribes of India, it said.
"To the UNC, we would like to reiterate that classification of Manipuri language under the Eighth Schedule has nothing to do with classification of the Meeteis as a Scheduled Tribe of India.
Anyway, Manipuri language is not confined to the Meeteis only but serves as the lingua franca of all communities Manipur, be it among Nagas or Kukis, but also amongst their many sub-tribes," the KKL pointed out.
Also it should be borne in mind as to what is happening in neighbouring Assam.
The Assemese language has been in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution since its adoption in 1950.But recently both the Assam Government as well as the Centre have agreed on the demand of inclusion of the Ahom Tais as a Scheduled Tribe of India, it said.
"We would like to remind our Naga brethrens to remember the words of the venerable Ava Kharar Thuingaleng Muivah that only the Nagas and the Meeteis are the indigenous peoples of Manipur,'' it continued.
"To our Tangkhul brethrens, we would like to remind them of the folklore that the Tangkhuls consider the Meeteis as their younger brother and that on the day of the coronation, the Meetei king wears the dress of a Tangkhul and no Meetei Laiharaoba is complete without the appearance of the Tangkhul Saba.
And there is still the living custom of the Meetei king, titular or otherwise visiting Hundung village in Ukhrul to meet his elder brother, the Chief of Hundung village, called Parihanba", the KKL said.
It then asked why the elder brother should object to the younger brother getting protection of his land and culture as a Scheduled Tribe of India.
To the question of Meeteis being more advanced than the tribals of Manipur, the KKL maintained that it has nothing to do with genealogy but it is because of the mode of production.
The Meeteis follow settled agriculture and thus they have more time to concentrate on art, culture and literature while the tribals hitherto used to follow slash and burn agriculture before allegedly switching to poppy plantation which will make them rich, it continued.
Lastly it would be wrong on the part of both the Nagas and the Kukis to consider the Meeteis as their common enemy, it added.
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