Tribal Meiteis must be included in ST list: MMTU
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 27 2025: The exclusion of the Meitei/Meetei community from the list of Scheduled Tribes was a blunder which must be rectified by restoring and recognising its status as a tribe again, said Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union (MMTU).

In different census reports, prepared between 1893 and 1931, the Meitei/ Meetei community was classified as a forest/hill tribe.

However, this status backed by the census reports and facts was ignored, and the community was unjustly excluded from the list of Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution's Article 342 (1), MMTU asserted in a statement today.

The exclusion of the Meitei/Meetei tribe from the ST list was "unjust", and the community has every right to seek Constitutional remedy to be included in the Scheduled Tribe list, said the MMTU, sharing historical records and evidence backing Meitei/Meetei's original status as a tribe of the region.

Below are historical evidence of the Meitei/Meetei being a tribe as presented by the MMTU--
After the 1891 Anglo-Manipur War, the Meitei/Meetei community was recognised as a Forest/Hill Tribe by the British in 1893 .

This was mentioned in the "General Report of the Census of India, 1891"--published by JA Baines, India's Census Commissioner, in London 1893 .

This status of the Meitei/Meetei as a Forest/Hill Tribe was also clearly mentioned in the "Census of India, 1891 (Assam) Vol I - Report" published by Assam's Census Superintendent EA Gait in Shillong in 1892, said MMTU.

Further, in the "Ethnography: Castes and Tribes" written by JA Baines in 1912, the Meitei/Meetei was recognised as a "Hindu Hill Tribe".

TC Hodson, in his book titled "The Meitheis" published in London in 1908, described the Meitei/Meetei as an early hill dwelling tribe who migrated from the hills to the plain and began adopting the Hindu religion around 1970.In the "Census of India, 1921 (Assam) Vol III, Part I-Report" published by Assam's Census Superintendent GT Lloyd in 1923 in Shillong, the Meitei Meetei was mentioned in the serial number 1 as one of ten Hill Tribes of the region.

The report mentioned Meitei/Meetei and Naga as the only two Hill Tribes in Manipur.

Again the "Census of India, 1931 (Assam) Vol III Part I - Report"--published by CS Mulla in Shillong in 1932--mentioned Meitei/Meetei in serial number 1 as one of 14 hill tribes of the region.

The report mentioned the Meitei/Meetei, Naga and Thadou Kuki as the only three hill tribes in Manipur.

After India gained independence from the British, the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on November 26, 1949, and it decided to enforce it on January 26, 1950 .

On April 28, 1949, India Government sent a letter to Manipur's Dewan (Political Agent) seeking to identify communities to be recognised as Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes.

Manipur at the time had its own Constitution and was an independent entity.

Maharaja Bodhachandra was the Head of the State.

MK Priyobrata was the Chief Minister who also held the office of Home Minister.

Also acting as in-charge of Dewan (Political Agent), MK Priyobrata, on June 6, 1949, responded to the letter of the Government of India and recommended recognition of 24 communities as Scheduled Tribes and 2 communities as Scheduled Castes.

Kuki, Kabui, Kacha Naga, Tangkhul, Mao (Angami), Maring.

Kom, Chiru, Koireng, Maram, Lamkang, Anal, Chothe, Purum, Khoiroo, Tarao, Moyon, Khoibu, Monsang, Aimol, Kharam, Thang-gan, Wainem and Kwatha were recommended for recognition as Scheduled Tribes, while Yaithibi and Loi were recommended for recognition as Scheduled Caste communities.

A copy of the recommendation was submitted to NK Rustomji, Advisor to Assam Governor.

Along with a similar recommendation from Tripura, the recommended list of communities for ST and SC for Manipur was then submitted by NK Rustomji to the Constituent Assembly's Secretary on July 23, 1949 .

Meanwhile, after some Kuki-Zo tribes alleged discrepancies in the list submitted to the Constituent Assembly, on the recommendation of NK Rustomji, "Any Kuki Tribe, Any Lushai Tribe, Any Naga Tribe" were inserted in the first ST list, published on September 20, 1951 .

The recommendation sent by then Chief Minister MK Priyobrata on June 6, 1949 didn't mention Meitei/Meetei.

This blunder of excluding the Meitei/Meetei from the list of tribes recommended for ST was done on the behest of some elites who had belief that ST status was "lowly".

Moreover, Manipur at the time was an independent entity and the Government had no knowledge that the State would merge with the Dominion of India, said MMTU.

As per the August 11, 1947 Instruments of Accession, signed between Maharaja Bodhachandra Singh and Governor General of India and the subsequent September 21, 1949 Merger Agreement, the Meetei/Meitei community should be have been recognised as a Hill Tribe, as recognised by the British, said the MMTU.

While this recognition as a Hill Tribe was not given against expectation, further, only the Meitei/Meetei community - which appeared in the serial number 1 of the list of tribes in Assam Province Census of 1931 - was excluded while all the other 13 communities which appeared thereafter in the mentioned list were given ST status.

This exclusion was unjust and unfair, and as such, the Meitei/Meetei people have every right to seek Constitutional remedy and demand inclusion in the ST list, asserted the MMTU .

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