Remove refugees from ST list: MTU
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, January 18 2024:
The Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union (MTU) has urged the Government to remove all those groups of people/communities who came to Manipur as refugees or illegal immigrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
The MTU said that it has been undertaking a campaign to cancel all the benefits of being ST given to these refugees/illegal immigrants by submitting representations to the Chief Secretary, the Additional Chief Secretary and all departments under the Government of Manipur.
No benefits guaranteed by ST status should be given to these people who should not have been included in the ST list, the MTU asserted in a statement.
It appealed to all Deputy Commissioners and SDOs/SDCs to stop issuing fresh ST certificates to non-indigenous people.
Refugees/illegal immigrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh are not indigenous people of Manipur.
As such, they do not fulfil the criteria laid down by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and the Registrar General of India for categorisation as Scheduled Tribe, it said.
Different orders issued by the Manipur State Durbar referred to Kukis as foreigners.
For example, an order issued by the Manipur State Durbar in 1933 stated that a Kuki village having 20 houses must pay a tax of at
least Rs 6 .
Another order issued in 1941 said that if Kukis wanted to settle adjacent or close to Naga villages, they must take prior permission of the Naga village chiefs, the MTU asserted.
A ruling passed by the Delhi High Court on January 9, 2024 categorically stated that no foreigners should be included in the ST list of any State, it conveyed.
The Delhi High Court further pointed out that enlistment of foreigners in the ST category violates Article 19(1)(e) of the Indian Constitution.
Since the merger of Manipur into the Indian Union in 1949, India has shown little empathy to the people of Manipur.
Even though a large number of Indian security forces are deployed along the Manipur-Myanmar border, there has been no respite to the influx of refugees/illegal immigrants from Myanmar.
India fought a number of wars to safeguard its international boundary but it remains highly questionable whether New Delhi sees Manipur as a part of India or not, the MTU remarked.
On the other hand, as a part of their vote bank politics, many politicians have been facilitating continuous enlistment of non-local people in the State's voter list.
In the hill region, people from Myanmar are being enlisted in the voter list en masse and now these people are conspiring to disintegrate Manipur, the MTU said.
It asserted that enlistment of Meitei/Meetei in the ST category is the most paramount necessity of the Meitei/Meetei community.