In demand for ST status of Meiteis STDCM locks railway office

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Sep 6: As announced earlier, the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee Manipur (STDCM) has launched their agitation today by locking an office of the Northern Frontier Railway located at Moirangkhom here.
Speaking to media persons, STDCM president Yumnam Dheeraj decried that the State Government has not yet sent a recommendation to the Central Government to enlist Meitei/Meetei under ST category.
He said that Meitei/Meetei community would be wiped out totally sooner rather than later in case the community is not given Constitutional protection.
With regard to their decision to lock the railway office, Dheeraj said that they have no  grudge against the Central Government but what is crucial is the State Government’s recommendation.
Saying that Meiteis are now facing an existential threat, Dheeraj pointed out that the living space of Meiteis has been shrinking day by day.
The only way to protect the living space of Meiteis and their land is enlistment of Meitei community under ST category. Once the ongoing railway project is completed, multitude of non-local people would swarm the State within a very short time.
It is a matter of grave concern that the State Government has been indulging in dilly-dallying tactics on such a crucial issue. The railway office has been locked with an appeal to halt the railway construction work until the demand for enlisting Meitei/Meetei in ST category is fulfilled, he said
As the STDCM volunteers locked the railway office at around 12.30 pm today, a team of Imphal police station arrived at the scene and pulled up the agitators.