Granting ST status will bring lasting peace: WMC
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, December 20 2023:
Demanding recognition of Meetei community by state and central governments and to include the community in Scheduled Tribe list, World Meetei Council (WMC) executive committee secretary general Yambem Arun observed that inclusion of the Meetei in the ST list is the best option for bringing long-lasting peace in Manipur.
Speaking to media persons at Dispur Press Club, Guwahati on Wednesday, Arun pointed out that the ethnic clash that broke out in the state is continuing for more than seven months.
Many people have died, several properties destroyed and numerous others displaced and taking shelter in relief camps.
Will the Prime Minister or chief minister or both be responsible for the horrific incidents of violence, he enquired, while contending that the deployment of over 70,000 security forces in the state of no use as cadres of SoO-bound armed groups continue to terrorise civilians.
Is SoO pact more valuable than the lives of the people, he posed, while lamenting that the Meeteis are being deprived of their right of as bonande citizens in their own land.
The adoption of discriminatory policy by the state and the centre has emboldened illegal immigrants to take advantage.
Now, it seems that the immigrants can influence the decision of state and central government, he alleged, while adding that the present crisis is engendered due to negligence of state and central governments unmindful of the fact that the unrestrained influx is posing serious threat to national security.
As such, he advised the state and central governments to grant recognition to the Meetei community and include it in Schedule Tribe list.