'Meetei/Meitei fulfil all criteria to be tagged ST'
WMC sounds PM with ST call
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 26 2022: The World Meetei Council staged a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar, Delhi yesterday and submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to include Meetei/Meitei in the Constitution's list of Scheduled Tribes and added that the community fulfils all the five criteria prescribed by the Lokur Committee.

In a statement it released to the media, the World Meetei Council noted that it is long overdue on the part of the Government to include the Meetei/Meitei in the ST list.

The WMC emphasised that Chief Minister N Biren Singh had told its members at his office premises on November 14, 2022 that he had "already submitted" all the necessary papers including the reports etc as desired by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, New Delhi and that the "ball is in the court of the Centre" .

Therefore, WMC appeals earnestly to the Centre to expedite the process so that the Meetei/Meitei people can live as rightful citizens in their own State of Manipur.

'Meetei/Meitei fulfil all criteria to be tagged ST'

Meanwhile, the memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted that the Meetei/Meitei are native indigenous people of Manipur and they need Constitutional protection.

The topography of Manipur is such that it is a hilly State, 91 percent of the area is covered by hills and the remaining 9% is valley located at the centre.

In 1950-51, while determining the ethnicity of the Meetei/Meitei community during the commencement of the Constitution of India, Meetei community was counted wrongly as Aryan society because Meetei/Meitei were Hindus and therefore Constitutionally they were put in the General category.

This meant that the Meetei/Meitei are not the rightful citizens in their own State of Manipur because they cannot live in the 91 percent area of the State ie the hilly area as the hill areas are kept protected for the people who are listed as Scheduled Tribes, said the memorandum.

The WMC continued that the paradox is Meetei/Meitei are one of the two native indigenous people of Manipur, the other being the Nagas.

However, since the enforcement of the Indian Constitution, the valley which is only about 9% of the State is the only area where the Meetei/Meitei people can live as rightful citizens along with all other communities of India.

Today, the valley is found to be the home of even illegal migrants from neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, Bangladesh and Nepal.

The census records of 1971 had shown the population of the Meetei/Meitei people to be approximately about 61 percent of the total population.

However, the latest census data has shown that the number has declined and is approximately about 44 percent due to unchecked influx of illegal migrants especially from neighbouring Myanmar.

The fact is that the "Meetei/Meitei have become a minority in our home State without any Constitutional protection" .

The total population of Manipur is estimated to be around 30 lakhs and out of this, the Meetei/Meitei population is estimated to be approximately 13 lakhs.

Thus, the native aboriginal Meetei/Meitei people are left in the midst of 140 crore Indians without any Constitutional protection.

This is gross injustice, said the WMC.

While noting that the Meetei/Meitei fulfill all the five criteria prescribed by the Lokur Committee, WMC said the Meetei/Meitei people have been demanding justice to enlist them in the list of Scheduled Tribes of the Indian Constitution since 2012 .

The WMC then sought the attention of the Prime Minister and asked him to intervene in the matter so that the native indigenous Meetei/Meitei people can be given their due place in the list of Scheduled Tribes.