Invoke the SC and ST (protection against discrimination) Act

Kakai Singsit
MPS officer and the former Addl SP of NAB, has been in the limelight for being at loggerheads with the legislature, the executives and the judiciary, all revered as the three pillars of democracy and the entire police department, and it is expected of her to be tactful in her conduct and public utterances in the future or else she will invite the wrath of the tribal people. Her recent Facebook comment in which she demonized tribal officers as ‘Quota people’ and going to the extent of calling them abusive names has evoked lots of anger. The purport and intent of her remarks was derogatory thus depicting the tribal people in poor light. It was anticipated that the government will take appropriate action against her by invoking the ‘The SC and ST (Protection Against Discrimination) Act but it seems the government is afraid of this elephant in the room.
Instead of disparaging the tribal people she should have done some soul-searching herself to why reservation and quotas were allotted to the weaker section of India. From historical, sociological and didactic perspectives tribals were ‘historically and officially disadvantaged groups having abode in forest and hilly regions.’ Since eon they were treated with utter disdain and contempt by the upper class people. They were backward and economically impecunious and denied amenities of life including education and social comforts. They were treated as slaves and forced to do those works which others loathed to do. As such they chose to live in isolation and segregated themselves from the rest of the world socially and culturally.
As such the framers of the Constitution thought it wise that if these socially, economically and academically backward communities of India were to live and grow at par with the rest of the country a constitutional protection was necessary to uplift and protect them via government intervention. This is the reason why they were included in one of the schedules of the constitution and came to be known as Scheduled Tribes. Thus in the context of India, Scheduled Tribes were those tribes identified and selected for protection against discrimination. For thousands of years the tribals were made to bear the brunt of all the hell of civilizations. They were branded as ‘unholy, unclean, contaminated and haomacha’ and not allowed to mingle with the rest of the world.
This is why reservations of seats or quotas for the weaker sections of the society in government jobs, educational institutions, legislature was provided- for their growth and development. This is also concomitant with relaxation of age, additional attempts in examinations, lower cut-off marks.
Such derogatory remark with racial overtone is condemnable and that too from a uniform service person where ethics, decorum and discipline is demanded. And the silence of the government on the matter piques one’s sentiment.
Like a firebrand she is barking at everyone and everything in her sight and throwing tantrums after tantrums and sending the government machineryinto a tizzy. Now the question is if the government fails to act against an individual who has gone overboard in both national and regional media of naming and shaming them then how will people have faith on them ? Such outlandish act with the intent to demean and demonize the tribals will not be condoned. Of late, this persona non grata has gone berserk and lashing out at everyone that comes her way.
She even started poking her nose where she should have really kept off and acting as if she is the leader of the opposition in one of her face-book post just before the Rajya Sabha election of Manipur lashing out at the King. If she’s interested in politics and doing what the elected representatives should have done why not resign from her service and join politics. Without providing an iota of evidence she dragged two tribal officers in the infamous drug-haul case of June, 2018 in the affidavit that was submitted to the hon’ble Court which was craftily leaked to both national and state medias which she later ludicrously claimed was given for ‘reading purpose’. Is she under the impression that she is the lone sagacious person in Manipur and the rest of us are fools to swallow such lies !
There’s something called ‘Rule of Law’ which binds all citizens to act and perform their respective duties within its ambit.

Postscript- The unedited version of this write-up had gone viral without the consent of this writer after it was sent to some of my peers for inputs and suggestions. Some names were inadvertently included in it. And I sincerely regret for the inconveniences caused.