THERE is a widespread misconception among the tribes in Manipur that Meiteis would grab tribal land and job quotas after obtaining Scheduled Tribes (ST) status. This stems largely from a misinformation campaign by some ethnocentric leaders and people with vested interests. This has created a fear psychosis among the tribes of land alienation and job loss. However, the fact is that Meiteis genuinely fear losing their unique social practice and cultural identity within the next century without the Constitutional protection of the meagre land they possess.
In most tribal villages in the hill districts, villagers are not permitted to sell land to other tribes. Therefore, tribal villagers can’t be expected to sell their land to Meiteis even if the latter become ST. Therefore, it would be incorrect to assume that Meiteis can grab land in the “Hill Areas” of Manipur if they become ST.
On the other hand, the 31% quota for the existing STs in Manipur Government jobs can be preserved even after the inclusion of Meitei in the ST list. The job quota for the Meitei community in Manipur Government jobs can be drawn from their existing state quota for SC, OBC and general categories. However, the welfare schemes for STs, mainly in the field of education and human resource development, are critically essential for uplifting the Meitei community, which mostly belongs to the weaker section of Indian society.
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In Manipur, there are very few Government schools that provide quality education. Therefore, most parents send their children to private schools; some sell their meagre landholdings to meet expenses, and many can’t provide their children with quality education.
If the Meiteis are granted ST status, many Eklavya Model Residential or Day Boarding Schools for STs can be established in the central valley, enabling Meitei children to access free, quality education. In addition, various higher education schemes for STs, offering opportunities to pursue academic excellence in the country and abroad, would facilitate better human resource development of the Meitei community. This would benefit all ethnic communities in Manipur.
The Meithei (Meetei/Meitei) was classified as a “Hill Tribe” in five censuses conducted by the British from 1881 to 1931. The “Meitheis” were listed at serial No. 1 among the 14 primitive tribes of the then Assam Province, including Manipur, in the Census of India, 1931, Vol. III, Assam Part I. After independence, all the tribes included in the list, except the “Meitheis,” were granted Scheduled Tribes status.
The prominent Meitei social and political leaders of that era opposed Western education and even regarded books written by the British as “Impure (AMANGBA)”. In those days, fewer than twenty Meiteis could read and understand the Constitution of India and the implications of the special welfare facilities provided to the Scheduled Tribes. Further, the Meiteis held the misconception that being branded as Hill Tribes would make them “Impure (AMANGBA)”. Therefore, in 1951, the Meiteis did not object to their exclusion from the ST list of Manipur.
If the Meiteis could read and understand the Constitution of India and the implications of the special welfare facilities for the Scheduled Tribes, they would have opted for ST status. The Government of India would have granted ST status to the Meitei, and no ethnic communities in Manipur would have raised any objections. This would have prevented the introduction of Article 371-C of the Constitution and the division of Manipur into hill and valley.
After exposure to Western education and to people from other states and countries, and after enduring extreme hardships due to inequality in the quality of education and the standard of living for over 70 years, increasing numbers of Meiteis realised that only the Constitutional protection of the ST could save their meagre land and cultural identity from extinction. Therefore, Meiteis began their demand for inclusion in the ST list of Manipur only in 2012.
On multiple occasions, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has informed and directed the Government of Manipur to submit a duly justified proposal, supported by an ethnographic report, for the inclusion of the Meitei in the ST list in accordance with the prescribed modalities. However, the political leaders of the successive State Government accorded utmost importance to political expediency and lacked the moral principle to deliver natural justice to the Meitei community. They have so far failed to forward the proposal, thereby effectively denying the Meitei community access to the Constitutional remedies under Article 342.
Even after the State Government forwards the recommendations, the Meiteis can’t be classified as ST unless they fulfil all the criteria. The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs will examine the recommendations and send them to the Registrar General of India for approval. After that, the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes must approve them before forwarding them to the Union Cabinet and Parliament.
Therefore, it is unethical and undemocratic for any tribal organisation to obstruct the recommendation from being forwarded for examination by intimidation and violence. It is against natural justice to the Meitei community to deny forwarding the recommendation for the inclusion of the Meitei in the ST list for examination by the competent authorities.
The First Schedule of “The Manipur Legislative Assembly (Hill Areas Committee) Order, 1972”, issued by the President of India in exercise of the power conferred by Article 371–C of the Constitution, places 90% of Manipur’s geographical area under the “Hill Areas.” Further, Section 158 of the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reform (MLR&LR) Act, 1960 restricts the transfer of land from ST to non-ST, thereby legally barring Meiteis from settling or owning land in the “Hill Areas’ of Manipur.
Therefore, the Meiteis are legally restricted to settle in the 10% of the state’s geographical area in the central valley, along with all other communities, irrespective of caste, creed, race, and religion. There are also many ST villages in the central valley, and their number has increased over time as the ST can purchase land from poor Meiteis, who sell their land to provide education and employment for their children and medical treatment for family members. However, the Meiteis are even legally restricted from repurchasing the same land in the valley once it has been transferred to the ST.
The land holdings of the Meiteis in the central valley have been reduced to a precarious state, and landless Meiteis are increasing by the day. The problem will be exacerbated with the completion of the Jiribam-Imphal railway line. The Meiteis can’t preserve their social practices, culture, and identity without land. The cultural identity and physical survival of Meiteis are threatened in their own ancestral homeland, and the Meiteis would not survive another century without Constitutional protections and safeguards for STs.
Currently, Meiteis are classified under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. However, OBC status doesn’t provide constitutional protections and safeguards for their cultural identity and land. Therefore, the main reason for the Meiteis’ demand for inclusion in the list of STs of Manipur is to secure constitutional protection and safeguards for their cultural identity and their meagre land, including land continuously occupied by Meiteis from the pre-merger period in “Hill Areas” till the beginning of the present crisis on 3rd May 2023, i.e., in Moreh, Churachandpur, etc., as well as Meitei holy shrines like Koubru, Thangjing Hills, etc.
The objectives behind the demand to include Meiteis in Manipur’s ST list have been outlined above to dispel the misconception that Meiteis would grab tribal land and job quotas after obtaining ST status. Many prominent Naga political leaders, including Alfred Kanngan S Arthur and Alyson Abonmai, are not opposed to the inclusion of Meiteis in the ST list. ThadouInpi Manipur leader Michael Lamjathang also actively supports ST status for Meiteis.
All the tribes of Manipur already enjoy constitutional protection of their land and cultural identity. At the same time, Meiteis do not claim other tribes’ land in the “Hill Areas” of Manipur as their ancestors’ land and have no land disputes with any other tribes, except with people from a few tribes who identify themselves under the generic term Kuki. Therefore, all the tribes in Manipur should be magnanimous in supporting Meiteis’ ST status and in securing constitutional protection for their meagre land and cultural identity under Article 342 of the Constitution.
(The views expressed are personal. The author is a retired Captain, Indian Navy. Email ID: bimollaishram@gmail.com.)
