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Members of the public in Manipur taking out a procession in Imphal demanding inclusion of the Meetei / Meitei as a Schedule Tribe.[/caption]
IMPHAL, Sept 18 : Thousands of people in Manipur on Sunday took to the streets of its capital Imphal demanding inclusion of the Meetei / Meitei in the list of Schedule Tribes of India.
The rally started from the Thangmeiband Athletic Union ground in Imphal West district and through to the Hafta Kangjeibung in Imphal East district where a public meeting was held. The rally was held under the aegis of the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee of Manipur (STDCM).
Speaking at the program, general secretary of the STDCM Laishram Lokendra said that the centre had sought the state government’s recommendation on the demand of inclusion of Meetei / Meitei in said list. But state is yet to give its recommendation, he said, and that the day's rally was organized following a decision during a recent public convention.
Lokendra claimed that the ongoing public movement was not ‘anti-tribal but pro-tribal.’ It would not hurt the interest of the tribal in the state, he claimed. ‘This is an approach to bring a cohesive and harmonious society in Manipur based on ethnic social equality,’ he asserted.
Citing the mechanism of tribal quota in the neighbouring states, Lokendra said that there were ‘plain and hill tribes in Assam with different quotas.’
Similarly in Nagaland, Schedule Tribes were ‘divided into advanced tribes and backward tribes with different quotas.’ Article 16 (4) empowers states to create quotas within quotas, he said.
Also, joint secretary K Bhogendrajit said that the movement was to have ‘constitutional safeguards’ to the Meetei / Meitei’s ethnic identity and to ‘prevent it from becoming extinct.’
An executive member of the STDCM, L Ratan, read out the three key resolutions that were taken during the meeting. The resolutions include inclusion of the Meetei / Meitei in the list of Schedule Tribe list of India besides urging the state’s authority to send its recommendation to the centre within October this year or ‘face various forms of public agitations.’
According to the STDCM, the Meitei have a population of about 10 lakh and inhabit the centrally-located Manipur valley which is less than 10 percent of state's area (22,327sq km). They ‘face the fear of becoming minority and ultimately become extinct from their ancestral land over the next few decades due to unabated influx from outside,’ it claimed.
