IMPHAL, Feb 6: The Meetei/Meitei Tribe Union (MMTU) has urged all legislators in Manipur to take up a discussion on the long pending issue pertaining to inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list in the upcoming Manipur legislative assembly session which will commence from February 10.
In a press note, the MMTU also urged that the House should adopt a resolution on the issue regarding the ST status demand.
The line of action taken up by the government for the demand would want to be incorporated into the Governor’s Address in the House and the same should be disclosed to the public, the union demanded in the press note.
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It said that, in case the issue got diverted, it needs to be produced as a private member resolution in the House by a legislature.
Protection of the changing political scenario, economy, land and socio-cultural condition of the Meitei community, and co-existence among all communities on equal footing will be possible only when the Meitei community is given the ST status, it said.
The MMTU noted that the majority of the indigenous groups in the Northeast have been officially recognised as Scheduled Tribes, and that the steps for the remaining groups have been accelerated.
Given the current situation facing Manipur, ignoring the issue by the people’s representatives and political parties is unfortunate”, it also said.
It mentioned that since the year 2013 the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs has so far asked for the recommendation for inclusion of the Meitei in the ST list from the Manipur government five times.
The union further mentioned that the government has done nothing till date after the state cabinet in 1981 during the time of then Chief Minister Rishang Keishing took a decision on the inclusion of the Meitei community in the ST list.
The ST demand movement began in 1970, the press note said, adding that the Meitei community was supposed to get the ST status in the 1951 census but T Kipgen, the then deputy commissioner who later served as Home Secretary, deliberately refused to include the recommendation.
The MMTU has been campaigning for ST status for the Meitei community. It has claimed that the Meitei community has been marginalized and faces discrimination in political, economic, and social aspects. (NNN)
