ST Status for the Meitei Hindus of Manipur – Why?
- In Current Affairs
- 04:04 PM, May 13, 2023
- Ankita Dutta
In May 2013, the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs had sought the views of the then Manipur Government led by Congress Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh on the matter of granting the status of a ‘Scheduled Tribe’ to the Meitei Hindus of Manipur. It was from this time onwards that the demand from different Meitei groups to include the Meiteis under the list of Scheduled Tribes kept on surfacing every now and then. But there were almost no takers for the ST status of the Meiteis in the community till just a few years back. Unlike now, it was not a topic of discussion from either the side of the Government or the Opposition at least till the Manipur Assembly elections of 2012.
The severe water crisis that had been plaguing Manipur at that time was a far more important electoral issue. The controversy surrounding ST status to the Meiteis began after an order of the Manipur High Court on this issue was made available online some days back. Immediately, it led to angst and resentment among the Christian population of the hills. Several tribal students’ unions and Christian organisations in Manipur including the United Naga Council expressed shock at this order while questioning the stance of the Government of Manipur, especially the Department of Tribal Affairs and Hills, in allowing this to happen.
The all-Christian Hill Areas Committee (HAC) came out with a resolution on April 20, 2023, on the ground that the order was passed the previous day. But on April 19, the order was only digitally verified and uploaded to the website of the Manipur High Court urging the Government to file an appeal. The Christians of Manipur have clearly expressed that the demand for the inclusion of the Meiteis in the list of Scheduled Tribes goes against the basic spirit of the Constitution of India and if implemented, the repercussions of this would be disastrous for them. Well, but how? Let us understand this in more detail.
The conflict between the Hindu Meiteis of the Imphal Valley and the Christian Nagas and Kukis of the hills is not a new phenomenon. The state of Manipur is shaped like a saucer, surrounded by high hills and mountains on all four sides and an agriculturally fertile low-lying river valley at the centre where a majority of the population resides. The Imphal Valley is home to almost all the Meiteis in the state and some scattered vanavasi population groups as well, and a significant percentage of Bengali Hindus. The Valley constitutes the districts of Imphal East and West, Kangpokpi, Kakching, Bishnupur, and Thoubal. Since it has more population, it sends more number of MLAs to the Assembly.
Hence, it is mainly the Valley where the political power of Manipur centre is concentrated. If the hill communities start settling in the valley in large numbers, the feeling of becoming an alien/a foreigner in one’s own land is very much likely to increase among the valley inhabitants, i.e. the Meiteis, in terms of their access, ownership, and control over resources. This is the same trend that can also be seen in states like Assam and Tripura because of the influx of Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators. Earlier also, in Manipur, this same trend was visible in the violent social movements both for and against the introduction of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) System.
The deep-rooted insecurities of the Meitei Hindus forced them to agitate in support of the introduction of the ILP, on the ground that unabated migration from Myanmar and Bangladesh had resulted in stress on their scarce land and resources. They, therefore, wanted constitutional protection for the locals. All these factors, besides the disparity of rights with respect to land and resources between the Hindus of the Valley and the Christian population in the hills, have eventually led to the clamour for the recognition of the Meiteis as a Scheduled Tribe. Don’t the Meities have equal rights as the Christians of Manipur under Article 371C of the Constitution of India to protect their lands, resources, and culture?
The concerns of the Meities are quite justifiable, considering that they are losing out to the Muslims and the Christians demographically and culturally in almost every passing decade. The migration of the Christian Kuki-Chin community of Myanmar is another serious issue. In Assam, too, similar causes can be attributed to the demand of the 6 different communities – Tai Ahom, Maran, Matak, Chutia, Koch Rajbongshis, and Adivasis – to officially recognise them as Scheduled Tribes. According to Christians, the Meities do not deserve the status of a Scheduled Tribe. Why? Because they are currently listed under the categories of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Other Backward Classes(OBCs).
The various Christian groups are raising the allegation that if the Meiteis become STs, they will grab all jobs reserved for the STs because the educational qualifications of the Meiteis are far better than the Nagas and the Kukis. But, from the perspective of the Meiteis, they are not demanding ST status to grab reserved jobs. Instead, they are of the opinion that without the ST status, they are on the verge of becoming extinct in their own ancestral lands. For them, it is more about saving their lands, culture and civilisation, which are under constant threat from Christians and illegal immigrants from outside the state.
The grievances of the Meiteis are, to a large extent, true. Because, when we see the changing population patterns, especially in the eastern border districts of Manipur, there has been an abnormal surge of the population which stinks of something else going on, and hence cannot alone be attributed to an increase in the natural birth rates. The Mao Naga population in Senapati district of Manipur increased from 34,300 in the Census of 1971 to 22,300 in 2011. The population of the Thadous also increased (in terms of absolute numbers) from 16,200 to 82,000 during the same period. The percentage of population of the Christians in these hill districts is exponentially increasing.
Accordingly, the Christian population of the state has surged from 34.2% in 2001 to 40.88% in 2011. In no way can this massive population growth be justified merely on the basis of high rates of fertility. Non-Meitei Hindus outnumber the Meitei Hindus almost everywhere in the hills of Manipur. The only exceptions are the towns of Churchandpur and Moreh, which are located in plain belts of districts that are otherwise hills in near entirety. There is a valid reason why the Government of Manipur ordered the eviction of forest lands recently, which led to the beginning of the disturbing incidents we are witnessing now.
The problem has become more complex because of the contestation over who are the indigenous people of Manipur. The Meiteis or the Kukis? Before the Partition of India in 1947 and Manipur’s merger with the Union of India in 1972, the Meiteis were recorded in history textbooks as a ‘tribe’. So, in this context, the demand for Scheduled Tribe status for the Meiteis is not anything new. If we look at the writings of British officials such as Gordon, Pemberton, William McCollum, etc. in the colonial era, we can find that the Meiteis were often directly or indirectly referred to as tribals. Anthropologists in the post-Independence era too, recognised the Meiteis as ‘Tribal Hindus’ of the North-East.
Meitei writer Sanjeibam Jugeswar Singh has argued that as per the Census records of the years 1891, 1901, and 1931, the Meiteis were classified as a Scheduled Tribe. But from the Gazetteers of 1951 onwards, the Meiteis were removed from the list of Scheduled Tribes of the Union of India without any definite intimation or communication to them or the Government of Manipur on this matter. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, was also not consulted. Under the current circumstances, even if the Meiteis are included in the ST list, they would constitute a meagre 1.4% of the total ST population. This 1.4% will definitely not be able to corner all benefits of education and employment for themselves.
After all, it is not the Hindus, but the other Christian communities in the Northeast who have always been the primary beneficiaries of this reservation policy. As of now, it remains to be seen how the current BJP Government in Manipur tackles the situation, considering the fact that the Christian-majority hill districts of Manipur and especially the Kukis, have given a bigger victory margin to the Party in the last Assembly elections than the Hindus. It has also become very important to initiate a healthy debate over the increasing Christian population growth in the Northeast vis-à-vis their falling TFRs – how much of this can be attributed to conversions and how much to immigration of the Kuki-Chins from Myanmar?
Image source: The Indian Express
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