ST for Meiteis call should continue A call for survival
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The call to include the Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe list of the Constitution will continue to reverberate across the length and breadth of Manipur and ironic it may sound but in a way the May 3 Tribal Solidarity March, which was supposedly staged against this particular demand has helped the ST for Meiteis demand remain in the spotlight. And it is against this fact that the Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union is set to give more vim to this demand and it may not take long for the other ST for Meiteis champions such as the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee, Manipur, the World Meetei Council, the Kangleipak Kanba Lup and others who share the same thought to jump in and roll out their own course of action. Not much may be read into it, but it is nonetheless interesting to note that the announcement of the MMTU came just a few days after the Ministry of Tribal Affairs asked the State Government to spell out its stand on the inclusion of the Chin-Kuki community in the ST list of the Constitution. Making the communication from the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs all that more interesting is the fact that it came against the backdrop of a petition to delist the Chin-Kuki community from the ST list. As pointed out in an earlier commentary here, the demand that the Meiteis be included in the ST list and the communication from the Centre seeking a reply from the State Government on the inclusion of the Chin-Kuki in the ST list are two different things, but in a way this could give a renewed thrust to the ST for Meiteis demand. In other words strengthen the position of the ST for Meiteis stand against the voice of opposition raised from certain quarters in Manipur. The Sangai Express has been consistent in its stand that it is not the Judiciary which can decide whether the Meiteis fit the bill to be tagged a Scheduled Tribe or not, but Parliament and all that is being asked or demanded right now is for the State Government to send the report which was sought by Delhi way back in 2013. If the Meiteis do not fill the bill to be tagged a Scheduled Tribe then let the Centre decide that. At least send the report has been the stand of The Sangai Express and if the Meiteis do not fulfil the needed criteria where was the need to protest so bloodily against that demand ? There will be no answer to this, for the fact is, the Meiteis just missed the bus to be tagged a Scheduled Tribe despite being tagged a tribal group by the British, long before India attained her independence in 1947.
The task ahead of the ST for Meiteis champions should be clear. Apart from the voice of opposition raised by those who are currently in the ST bracket, the need to take everyone, particularly the section of Meiteis who do not see eye to eye with this demand, need to be taken along too. Or at the least they need to be made to understand that getting the ST tag will not erode the identity of the Meiteis in any way. As a young man put it, while sharing ideas on the ST demand, one of the main purposes of job and educational reservation for the those coming under the ST tag is to bring them more into the mainstream. Are the Meiteis in the mainstream by any stretch of the imagination ? Another argument is that the ease of job and admission reservation may rob the competitive edge out of the Meiteis, but then a look at the reality may tell a different story. A look at the Meena and the Bhil communities may give some light on this point. Moreover Tamil Nadu has more than 50 percent caste based job reservations within the State of Tamil Nadu but has this eroded the competitiveness of the Tamil people ? The answers need not be elaborated and it should say something significant why former Governor of Manipur the late Ved Marwah is understood to have mooted the idea of including the Meiteis in the ST list as spelt out in his book, ‘India in Turmoil’ and why former Chief Secretary Kk Sethi too has toed the same line. Food for thought here.
The task ahead of the ST for Meiteis champions should be clear. Apart from the voice of opposition raised by those who are currently in the ST bracket, the need to take everyone, particularly the section of Meiteis who do not see eye to eye with this demand, need to be taken along too. Or at the least they need to be made to understand that getting the ST tag will not erode the identity of the Meiteis in any way. As a young man put it, while sharing ideas on the ST demand, one of the main purposes of job and educational reservation for the those coming under the ST tag is to bring them more into the mainstream. Are the Meiteis in the mainstream by any stretch of the imagination ? Another argument is that the ease of job and admission reservation may rob the competitive edge out of the Meiteis, but then a look at the reality may tell a different story. A look at the Meena and the Bhil communities may give some light on this point. Moreover Tamil Nadu has more than 50 percent caste based job reservations within the State of Tamil Nadu but has this eroded the competitiveness of the Tamil people ? The answers need not be elaborated and it should say something significant why former Governor of Manipur the late Ved Marwah is understood to have mooted the idea of including the Meiteis in the ST list as spelt out in his book, ‘India in Turmoil’ and why former Chief Secretary Kk Sethi too has toed the same line. Food for thought here.