MMTU gives another push to No ST, No Vote campaign

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jan 19: The campaign being carried out under the banner “No ST, No Vote” has reached Sajiwa, Imphal East with a campaign meeting held today at Ideal Teachers Training Academy, Sajiwa.Addressing the campaign meeting attended by students and teachers of Ideal Teachers Training Academy and many other people, Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union (MMTU) president Salam Gourakishore asserted that Meitei is fully eligible for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribe list of the Indian Constitution.
He said that it’s time for all Meitei people to work together to get the community enlisted in the ST category.
MMTU treasurer Gopi-mohon Thokchom said that as per the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Act, 2012, there are 34 ST communities in Manipur viz; Aimol, Anal, Angami, Chiru, Cho-the, Gangte, Hmar, Kabui, Inpui Rongmei, Liangmai, Zeme, Koirao Thangal, Koireng, Kom, Lamkang, Mao, Maram, Maring, Any Mizo (Lushai) Tribe, Monsang, Moyon, Paite, Purum, Ralte, Sema, Simte, Suhte, Tangkhul, Thadou, Vaiphei, Zou, Poumai Naga, Tarao, Kharam, Any Kuki Tribe and Mate.
This list was amended several times and tribal IAS officers put in their minds and serious efforts every time the list was amended, Gopimohon said.
These communities got ST status after recommendations prepared by Secre- taries and Commissioners were approved by the Chief Ministers and further forwarded to relevant authorities without ethnographic reports, he said.
He also pointed out that the Meitei community did not raise any objection when these communities were inserted in the ST list.
However, many ST communities and IAS officers belonging to these communities have been raising strong objections to the Meitei’s demand for ST status, he noted.
When Meiteis/Meeteis submitted a written application to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs on May 3, 2013 seeking including of the community in the ST list,  the Ministry stated that there must be a specific recommendation from the State Cabinet along with the community’s ethnographic report, Gopimohon said.
At a Luira Phanit festival held at Tashar village, Ukhrul on March 4, 2013, titular king Leishemba Sanajaoba appealed to all hill communities to support the effort of enlisting Meitei/Meetei tribe in the ST category under Article 342(1) of the Indian Constitution, he recalled.
He then highlighted the need for the State Government to prepare an ethnographic report of the Meitei community in consultation with sociologists, historians, anthropologists and other experts.
Expressing amazement as well as fear over the total indifference shown by MLAs to the popular demand for enlisting Meitei in the ST category, Gopimohon said that the MMTU published an ethnographic report of Meitei/Meetei on February 2, 2022.
The report was submitted to the then Governor, the Chief Minister and the Director, Tribal Research Institute.
The same report was also submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, National Commission for Scheduled Tribe and the Registrar General of India, he said.
He said that a strong mass movement of not voting for candidates/political parties whose election manifestos do not promise inclusion of Meitei/Meetei in the ST list would be launched soon.
MMTU secretary (administration) Mutum Churamani  said that Meiteis existed as a big community in the historical past and they embraced all smaller communities.
Meiteis were a strong community in the past but today the community has lost all its strength. The Meitei population is declining and the community is lagging behind other communities in all aspects, Churamani said.
He asserted that only the ST status can rescue the Meitei community from complete downfall.
He also called upon all the Meitei voters not to vote for candidates/political parties who have no interest to work for inclusion of the community in the ST list.
Ideal Teachers Training Academy Principal Khagok-pam Kala and MMTU secretary (organisation) Takhellambam Parijat were also present at the campaign meeting.