MMTU gears up for extensive campaign
All set to give new push to ST demand
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, January 10 2024:
The Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union (MMTU) has declared that a fresh and extensive campaign for inclusion of Meetei/Meitei under Article 342 (1) of the Indian Constitution would be launched soon both within the State and beyond.
A statement issued by the MMTU asserted that the campaign for ST status is necessary for protection of the Meetei community and the Meeteis would never compromise on the issue under any circumstances.
The campaign is for securing land and political rights for Meiteis and also to foster peaceful co-existence among all the communities of Manipur under a uniform system.
A staggering 8,86,480 Meeteis responded positively to the MMTU's mass missed call campaign from November 20 to December 30 last year.
It clearly proved that more than 70 per cent of the Meetei population support enlistment of the Meetei community in ST category, it asserted.
The MMTU urged the State Government to shoulder due responsibility for enlistment of Meitei in the ST category if it is genuinely concerned with the sorry state of the Meitei community.
The valley portion of Manipur is just around 700 square miles and lakhs of migrants including those from outside the State have made their settlements in the valley, and these new settlers have taken over land ownership continuously, the MMTU said.
Meitei constituted 58.86 per cent of the total population of Manipur in 1951 but it declined to just 44.90 per cent in 2021 .
From 2020 when ILP System was extended to Manipur till 2023, 5,47,720 people from different States of India came to Manipur.
In another word, ILP enforced in Manipur is just for name's sake, it said.
Although the Manipur valley is predominantly inhabited by the Meitei, many other communities have been continuously moving and settling in the valley.
As a result, seats are being reserved for tribals in Municipal Councils as well as Panchayats in the valley.
Moreover, non-local people are becoming a decisive voice in the political affairs of some Assembly Constituencies like Thangmeiband, Wangkhei, Sagolband, Sugnu etc.
There is a strong possibility of non-local people taking over political powers in Manipur after some years, it said.
With the arrival of Act East Policy, railway projects, Kaladan Project etc, most of the agricultural lands and homesteads would fall in the hands of non-local people, it warned.
Even though some Meitei people take pride in the fact that they belong to the General category, the community remains quite backward.
As per the socio-economic caste census report of 2021, 40 per cent of the valley residents do not possess land ownership deeds (patta).
As they do not possess patta, they could not avail the benefits of several welfare programmes taken up by the Government, it said.
The MMTU's campaign would focus on protection of Meetei people's land rights.
"To protect our land rights is our inalienable rights", it asserted.
While Meeteis and other indigenous communities are being driven out from their homes/villages through an open act of armed aggression, Kuki-Chin-Zo people who are not indigenous to the land and as such don't qualify to be categorised as ST have been listed as ST.
The issue of incessant influx from Myanmar into Manipur must be tackled collectively by all the indigenous people of the land.
Kuki-Zo people who constituted 16 per cent of the total population of Manipur in 2011 now form more than 30 per cent of the total population.
During the same period, around 1600 new villages sprang up, the MMTU said.
It then called upon all the indigenous communities to fight these challenges and issues collectively.
Notably, the Special Secretary (Tribal Affairs and Hills), Government of Manipur wrote to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India on February 8 last year conveying the State Cabinet's approval for deletion of the nomenclature 'Any Kuki Tribe' from the list of Scheduled Tribes of Manipur.
The State Cabinet adopted a decision to this effect on October 19, 2018 .
The State Cabinet also approved the correction in Entry 17 (for Manipur) of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 by replacing 'Any Mizo (Lushai) Tribe' with Mizo.
Conveying the same, the Special Secretary (Tribal Affairs & Hills) requested the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to take up necessary action for deletion of 'Any Kuki Tribe' from the list of Scheduled Tribes of Manipur and also correct the name of 'Any Mizo (Lushai) Tribe' to Mizo as approved by the State Cabinet.
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