‘Immigrants have no right to be included in ST categrory’ MMTU to approach SC with ST case

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Oct 5: The Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union (MMTU) is set to file a petition at the Supreme Court seeking removal of the immigrant Kuki-Zo communities from the ST list.
The Kuki-Zo communities came from Myanmar as foreigners, settled in Manipur unlawfully and they were given ST status wrongfully, according to a statement issued by MMTU.
Enlistment of foreigners from Myanmar in the electoral roll and giving them ST status violate the Constitution of India, it said.
The MMTU alleged that the Government of India has been openly violating the Foreigners’ Act 1948 in Manipur apart from implementing several covert and overt policies to annihilate the indigenous communities.
History stands testimony to the fact that the Kuki-Zo people are not indigenous people of Manipur. There was not a single Kuki-Zo village in Manipur till 1834.
Kuki refugees who came to Manipur till 1973 wrote repeatedly to the State Government seeking financial packages for their relief and rehabilitation. The existing documents are proof of this fact, the MMTU asserted.
Kuki-Zo was wrongly inserted in the ST list in 1950. The term Kuki-Zo was changed to any Kuki-Zo tribe in 1956 and it opened a floodgate of influx of Kuki-Zo immigrants from Myanmar, it said.
The Indian Constitution says without any ambiguity that ST status should be given to only indigenous people, and no foreign National or refugee should be given ST status.
A Supreme Court judgement passed in 2011 and another judgement passed by the Delhi High Court in 2023 stated that no one other than indigenous people should be inserted in the ST list.
In some States of India,  certain communities who were wrongly inserted in the ST list have been removed, the MMTU said.
But influx of illegal immigrants has been continuing unabated in Manipur and they are now waging a war against the indigenous communities to disintegrate Manipur and take control of a large portion of the State’s territory, it said.
After the merger of Manipur into the Indian Union in 1949, the Meitei community’s economy as well as the political and socio-cultural identity were uprooted.
The long porous border was left unguarded facilitating influx of lakhs of illegal immigrants from Myanmar. At the same time, the permit system which was enforced in Manipur before its merger with India to check entry and exit of outsiders was abolished in 1950.
For the Meitei community to protect their identity, culture and ancestral land, it is imperative to get the community enlisted in the ST category, the MMTU asserted.
If the Meitei community is not listed in the ST category, they will not have any space in the political set-up of Manipur.
The number of Meitei legislators will come down drastically once delimitation is carried out and the ancestral land of Meiteis will fall in the hands of outsiders, it said.
If the Government and the legislators do not take the issue of ST demand seriously, the people need to launch a strong movement with a firm conviction, the MMTU said before asking the people to prepare for such a massive movement.