Express News Service
GUWAHATI: The demand for including Meiteis (also Meeteis) in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list is central to the ongoing violence in Manipur. A section of Meiteis, led by the Scheduled Tribes Demand Committee of Manipur (STDCM), has raised the demand for the past decade. However, this issue remained invisible during last year’s Assembly elections. The reason is that a section of the Meiteis opposes it, not just the tribals.
On April 19 this year, the Manipur High Court directed the tribal affairs ministry to submit the recommendation for including the Meitei community in the ST list. The court observed, “There appears to be a recommendation of the state pending for inclusion of the Meetei/Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes list…”
Hearing a writ petition filed by some members of Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union, a single-judge bench of acting Chief Justice MV Muralidaran said, “It would be appropriate to direct the respondent State to submit its recommendation to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs within a reasonable time.”
ALSO READ| Manipur violence: Govt issues ‘shoot at sight’ orders; 55 army columns deployed, RAF flown-in
The petitioners placed on record various documentary references and submitted that during the preparation of the ST list under Article 342 of the Constitution, the Meetei/Meitei community was left out, but the documentary evidence showed it belonged to the “tribe community”.
In its various representations to the state government and the Centre, the STDCM also said the Meiteis were excluded from the ST list without constitutional safeguards. As a result, they were slowly marginalised in their ancestral land. Meitei groups say their inclusion in the ST category will give them, among others, an equal right to land. Currently, the tribals can buy land in Imphal Valley, but the Meiteis cannot do so in the hills.
The HC’s recent order, meanwhile, united the tribals. Thousands of them in all 10 hill districts of the state participated in Wednesday’s “Tribal Solidarity March” organised by the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM). According to local media reports, the HC issued notices to the chairman of the Hill Areas Committee (MLAs elected from hill areas are its members) and the president of ATSUM for appearance “for instigating innocent hill people against the court judgment.”
Ahead of the solidarity march, the ATSUM had said it was organising the rally to protest against the “persistent demand of Meitei community for inclusion in ST category, support to this by valley legislators and the need for taking appropriate measures to collectively protect tribal interests.”
The tribals oppose the Meitei community’s ST status demand on the grounds of its dominance in terms of population and political representation. The Meiteis are dominant in two-thirds of the 60 Assembly constituencies.
ALSO READ| EXPLAINER: How demand for inclusion of Meiteis in ST list snowballed into violence in Manipur
The state is like a stadium. The Imphal Valley is surrounded by hills where 34 recognised tribes live. The tribals are mostly Christians, while the Meiteis are largely Hindus and reside in the Imphal Valley. The valley also has a small population of tribals. Similarly, the hills have a small population of Meiteis. Some major roads lead up to the valley from the hills.
The hills and another small valley, called Jiribam, in the state’s western fringe bordering Assam’s Cachar, make up around 90% of Manipur’s total area, while the Imphal Valley is the state’s remaining 10%. An estimated 70% of the state’s projected population of 36.49 lakh in 2023 (28.56 lakh in the 2011 Census) is settled in the Imphal Valley. The remaining area is home to the tribals.
The violence has its genesis in the eviction of tribal villagers from forest areas and a survey of “reserve forests, protected forests, wetlands and wildlife” by the state government. It is against the backdrop that last Thursday, miscreants vandalised the venue of a programme of CM N Biren Singh.
State at a glance
The state has a geographical area of 22,327 sqkm and is bound by Nagaland, Mizoram, Assam and Myanmar
The state is like a stadium. The Imphal valley is surrounded by hills where 33 recognized tribes – broadly classified as ‘Any Kuki Tribes’ and ‘Any Naga Tribes’ – live. They are largely Christians
The Meiteis are largely Hindus and they reside in the Imphal valley. Some major roads leading up to the valley from the hills
The hills make up around 90% of the state’s total areas. Imphal Valley is the remaining 10%
An estimated 70% of the state’s projected population of 36.49 lakh in 2023 (28.56 lakh in 2011 Census) are settled in the Imphal valley. The remaining 30% of areas are home to tribals in the hills.
Manipur was a princely state before its merger with the Indian Union in 1949
READ MORE:
Manipur violence: Scores of houses, churches, temples torched by mob, Internet suspended, curfew on
Army deployed in violence-hit Manipur, 7,500 people shifted to safer places
GUWAHATI: The demand for including Meiteis (also Meeteis) in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list is central to the ongoing violence in Manipur. A section of Meiteis, led by the Scheduled Tribes Demand Committee of Manipur (STDCM), has raised the demand for the past decade. However, this issue remained invisible during last year’s Assembly elections. The reason is that a section of the Meiteis opposes it, not just the tribals.
On April 19 this year, the Manipur High Court directed the tribal affairs ministry to submit the recommendation for including the Meitei community in the ST list. The court observed, “There appears to be a recommendation of the state pending for inclusion of the Meetei/Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes list…”
Hearing a writ petition filed by some members of Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union, a single-judge bench of acting Chief Justice MV Muralidaran said, “It would be appropriate to direct the respondent State to submit its recommendation to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs within a reasonable time.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
ALSO READ| Manipur violence: Govt issues ‘shoot at sight’ orders; 55 army columns deployed, RAF flown-in
The petitioners placed on record various documentary references and submitted that during the preparation of the ST list under Article 342 of the Constitution, the Meetei/Meitei community was left out, but the documentary evidence showed it belonged to the “tribe community”.
In its various representations to the state government and the Centre, the STDCM also said the Meiteis were excluded from the ST list without constitutional safeguards. As a result, they were slowly marginalised in their ancestral land. Meitei groups say their inclusion in the ST category will give them, among others, an equal right to land. Currently, the tribals can buy land in Imphal Valley, but the Meiteis cannot do so in the hills.
The HC’s recent order, meanwhile, united the tribals. Thousands of them in all 10 hill districts of the state participated in Wednesday’s “Tribal Solidarity March” organised by the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM). According to local media reports, the HC issued notices to the chairman of the Hill Areas Committee (MLAs elected from hill areas are its members) and the president of ATSUM for appearance “for instigating innocent hill people against the court judgment.”
Ahead of the solidarity march, the ATSUM had said it was organising the rally to protest against the “persistent demand of Meitei community for inclusion in ST category, support to this by valley legislators and the need for taking appropriate measures to collectively protect tribal interests.”
The tribals oppose the Meitei community’s ST status demand on the grounds of its dominance in terms of population and political representation. The Meiteis are dominant in two-thirds of the 60 Assembly constituencies.
ALSO READ| EXPLAINER: How demand for inclusion of Meiteis in ST list snowballed into violence in Manipur
The state is like a stadium. The Imphal Valley is surrounded by hills where 34 recognised tribes live. The tribals are mostly Christians, while the Meiteis are largely Hindus and reside in the Imphal Valley. The valley also has a small population of tribals. Similarly, the hills have a small population of Meiteis. Some major roads lead up to the valley from the hills.
The hills and another small valley, called Jiribam, in the state’s western fringe bordering Assam’s Cachar, make up around 90% of Manipur’s total area, while the Imphal Valley is the state’s remaining 10%. An estimated 70% of the state’s projected population of 36.49 lakh in 2023 (28.56 lakh in the 2011 Census) is settled in the Imphal Valley. The remaining area is home to the tribals.
The violence has its genesis in the eviction of tribal villagers from forest areas and a survey of “reserve forests, protected forests, wetlands and wildlife” by the state government. It is against the backdrop that last Thursday, miscreants vandalised the venue of a programme of CM N Biren Singh.
State at a glance
The state has a geographical area of 22,327 sqkm and is bound by Nagaland, Mizoram, Assam and Myanmar
The state is like a stadium. The Imphal valley is surrounded by hills where 33 recognized tribes – broadly classified as ‘Any Kuki Tribes’ and ‘Any Naga Tribes’ – live. They are largely Christians
The Meiteis are largely Hindus and they reside in the Imphal valley. Some major roads leading up to the valley from the hills
The hills make up around 90% of the state’s total areas. Imphal Valley is the remaining 10%
An estimated 70% of the state’s projected population of 36.49 lakh in 2023 (28.56 lakh in 2011 Census) are settled in the Imphal valley. The remaining 30% of areas are home to tribals in the hills.
Manipur was a princely state before its merger with the Indian Union in 1949
READ MORE:
Manipur violence: Scores of houses, churches, temples torched by mob, Internet suspended, curfew on
Army deployed in violence-hit Manipur, 7,500 people shifted to safer places
