Don't dilute ST demand with other issues : STDCM
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 30 2022: The Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee, Manipur (STDCM) has appealed to all organisations and individuals who have been rendering support to them to not engage in any activity which may give misinformation about the movement demanding enlistment of Meetei/Meitei in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list of the Constitution.

In a statement, STDCM said that they, unlike other CSOs, don't get involved in other issues of the State other than extending moral support as the primary objective of the committee is to protect the rights, identity and future of the Meetei/Meitei people.

Saying that STDCM has also been avoiding confrontation with any organisation or individual over the matter, the committee claimed that a particular organisation which subscribe to the movement, however, is mixing the issue of ST status with others.

Appealing to all concerned to refrain from engaging in any sort of activities which may mislead the masses and discredit the movement which only envisages to protect the ethnic group, STDCM asserted that the demand to grant ST tag to Meetei/Meitei should never be associated with other issues.

STDCM came across some unverified news wherein some organisations claimed that the Manipur Government has already forwarded the socio-economic and ethnographic reports of Meetei/Meitei to the Centre and a particular organisation staging a sit-in protest at Delhi, it said.

Saying that the State Government is yet to send the recommendations to the Centre as per their understanding, STDCM continued that they would be very glad if the State indeed had sent the documents sought by the Centre for addition of Meetei/Meitei in the ST list.

The movement of STDCM is a continuing process which began by submitting a memorandum to the then Governor on November 30, 2012, it maintained and expressed gratitude to all its supporters.

Continuing that the movement which has been taken up to protect the Meetei/Meitei might go in another direction if there is disunity among the stakeholders concerned, STDCM clarified that they, however, are not claiming executive right of the ST issue.

The committee also urged the State Government to forward the latest ethnographic and socioeconomic reports of the Meetei/Meitei to the Centre without further delay and let them examine whether the ethnic group can be tagged as an ST community.

The movement spearheaded by STDCM was not taken seriously in its initial stage, but today it has become a movement of the entire Meetei/Meitei considering all the factors which challenge the identity and survival of the ethnic group, it added.

The committee also stated that granting ST status to Meetei/Meitei will not harm the interest of other communities other than narrowing the gap between the indigenes.

Comment