ST demand committee cautions for intensive agitations

Pothashang News Service: Imphal, March 3, 2019: Public gathering organised by Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee at Konung Lampak has served an ultimatum to the Manipur government to recommend for inclusion of the Meitei / Meetei community in the scheduled tribe list of the Indian Constitution by March 6.

People in thousands took out a rally on the street of today. It began at Thangmeiband Athletic Union’s ground here and wind up at Konung Lampak in Imphal East and gathered to resolve for further course of agitations for the demand.

The gathering cautioned that a general strike will be imposed from 6 pm of March 9 till midnight of the next day if the government fails to fulfill the demand within the deadline.

It decided to campaign against political parties in the coming elections.

It also resolved to indefinitely stop the railway construction works in the state.

Civil society organisations’ members, politicians, students among others took part in the mass rally organised by Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee.

The demonstrators protested against the silence of Manipur government saying that “the ministry of tribal affairs on May 29, 2013 urged the state government to recommend for discussion in reply to a memorandum submitted by the demand committee”.

The committee said among other movements a mass rally was organised on September 18, 2016 participated by about one and a half lakh demonstrators in Imphal demanding the state government to recommend Meitei/Meetei for ST status.

As decided by a public meeting the demand committee announced 24-hour general strike to effective from January 21 midnight. As a reply the chief minister  (N. Biren Singh ) invited us for talks and the demand committee members met the chief minister thrice on January 18, February 6 and 16 which led to the suspension of strikes. However the state government still fails to fulfill the demand which shows the negligence of the survival of the community, the committee said.

The demand committee convenor Romesh Meetei said the Indian Constitution considers the indigenous people as scheduled tribes. As Meitei / Meetei are indigenous people we demand to include the community in the scheduled tribe list, he added.

Six communities of the North East were recently included in the ST list, Romesh said.

“Among all the indigenous people in the Northeast the Meetei / Meitei will be the only one which is nit included the ST list”, retired IAS RK Nimai said.

Migration will come and go, if we don’t protect the land many of the people here who are economically marginalised will become refugees in their own land. For this the community requires constitutional protection, he added.

Maniput Titular King Leishemba Sanajaoba said, “This is the question for the survival of the Meitei / Meetei community. It is my sincere appeal to the present government to immediately recommend the Centre for inclusion of the community in the ST list”.