Only ST status can secure Meiteis: WMC

IMPHAL, May 4
The World Meetei Council (WMC) has contended that updating National Register of Citizens (NRC), enforcement of Inner Line Permit System (ILPS) and border fencing may safeguard Manipur but these measures alone won't be able to protect Meetei/Meitei.
WMC, in a statement, voiced that enlistment of Meetei/Meitei in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list of the Constitution is the only option available to secure the future of Meetei/Meitei whose survival has been threatened by a host of factors.
The council went on to state that ILPS will become more effective when Meetei/Meitei gets the ST status.
Considering all the factors, the WMC urged  Chief Minister N Biren Singh to send the recommendation sought by the Centre to add Meetei/Meitei in the ST list and prevent the ethnic group from disappearing.
Saying that the nefarious campaign of Chin-Kuki narco-terrorists completed one year yesterday and no one can say with absolute certainty when the crisis in Manipur will end, the WMC claimed that the alleged drama of the Centre and the State Government amid the crisis is only making the people confused.
The council continued that security forces and local volunteers may suppress the violence in Manipur from time to time but enlistment of Meetei/Meitei in the ST list can put a permanent end to it (the violence).
Jananeta Hijam Irabot had advocated back in the day that hill and valley people should enjoy equal rights to prevent  infighting among the people, the WMC said and added that Irabot , unfortunately, went under- ground and died in Burma at the time when the Indian Constitution became effective.
The Meetei/Meitei would have been granted the ST status way back in 1951 had Jananeta Irabot been there, the WMC said.
Meanwhile, the WMC carried out its ST demand campaign at Sekmaijin along with local clubs and Meira Paibi lups of the locality today.
Some of the slogans which were raised at Sekmaijin were "CM should not blackmail the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status demand by Meetei", "Send the recommendation soon," "NRC, ILPS and border fencing can't protect the Meetei," and "Only enlistment in Scheduled Tribes'  list can safeguard the Meetei" among others.