ST tag is the mantra to save Meeteis: WMC
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 12 2024: The World Meetei Council (WMC) has categorically stated that enlistment of Meetei in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list will be the right step to strengthen the Inner Line Permit System (ILPS) regime which is applicable in Manipur and some other Northeastern States.

WMC, in a statement signed by its president Urikhinbam Kunjo, said that Manipur's valley districts where Meetei people can reside constitutes only about 6.5 per cent of the total geographical area of the State.

The Council forewarned that Meeteis will lose its political power in the near future if no corrective action is taken up by the Government to secure the future of the ethnic group.

Saying that Meeteis in Jiribam currently are unable to perform even their cultural and religious programmes freely, the WMC maintained that Imphal and its adjacent valley districts may face the same fate if the Meeteis are not given the Constitutional safeguard in the form of ST before the commencement of the delimitation exercise.

It further said that only ILPS cannot protect the Meeteis from all the threats the ethnic group has been facing.

The Supreme Court may cancel the ILPS anytime as the same regime challenges the fundamental rights of non-Manipuris as per Article 19, the WMC continued and reiterated that granting ST status is the only option available to safeguard Meeteis Constitutionally.

Reminding that an organisation called AMRA Bengali filed a petition before the Supreme Court against the implementation of ILPS in Manipur in January 2022, the Council added that facing the case will be difficult if Meetei is not given the ST status as soon as possible.

Enlisting Meetei in the ST list will also prevent revoking of the ILPS which is enforced in the State apart from securing the future of the ethnic group, it reasoned.

Every tribe and community in India want them to be protected Constitutionally, the Council continued and maintained that six communities in Assam including Asom are also on the verge of getting the ST status.

The Government in Sikkim has also started the process to add 12 groups of the State in the ST list, the WMC continued and added that the Manipur Government led by Chief Minister N Biren, however, is still not sending the ethnographic and socioeconomic reports of Meetei to the Centre despite repeated appeals by the people.

What would be the future of Meeteis if the Centre conducts Census and delimitation exercise before identifying the illegal immigrants, the WMC asked and asserted that it is the Kuki who will get all the benefit if the delimitation is conducted before identifying the illegal immigrants.

Meeteis are becoming weaker after the State merged with India as they didn't seek Constitutional safeguard while the Kukis got stronger because they are in the ST list, the WMC said.

The Council then appealed to all the Meeteis to support the movement being launched by WMC, STDCM and MMTU to add Meeteis in the ST list.

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