MUCH WATER has flowed under the bridge since 1950 when an opportunity was there for the Meitei community to be Scheduled Cast or Scheduled Tribe in 1950-51 and also in 1955-56. They have now progressed far beyond the considerations to be a SC or ST that the proposal to be included in either of the lists would no longer be tenable.
This is yet another clarification made in connection with the first article written by Ngaranmi Shimray published in The Sangai Express on 10.10.2023 and its subsequent clarifications and on Ukhrul Times online news daily on Oct 8, 2023.
Not all Meiteis are followers of Hindu religion. A good number still follow an indigenous faith of the Meitei society – Sanamahism, the ancient, ethnic religion of the Meitei people. There are still some Meitei Hindus who are included in the list of Scheduled Caste (SC) in the Order of 1951. Now the biggest chunk of Meitei Hindus fall under the category of Other Backward Classes (OBC). The caste system divides Hindus broadly into four main categories – Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras. The Manipur government under W. Napamacha Singh stated that the Meitei people are Hindus and have assumed the status of Kshatriya Caste and are already listed as OBC. He also stated that the Meiteis are the dominant community. From these, it is clear that Meiteis are predominantly Hindus and the only group who are not are those following the Sanamahi faith.
Related article | Meiteis’ exclusion from the ST list is by their own choice; Kalelkar Commission Report of 1956
The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 provides in paragraph 3 that only a member of Hindu or Sikh religion shall be deemed to be a member of Scheduled Caste. In other words, people following the Hindu or Sikh religion can be termed as SC and not as ST. Currently, the Meitei community, who are Hindus, are claiming that they are still a tribe based on historical records and here is the dichotomy. Also, can a Hindu society falling within a caste system be a Scheduled Tribe?
The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 does not provide for a Hindu to be included in the list of Scheduled Tribes as a Hindu caste suffering from low status and other social disability would fall in the list of Scheduled Caste and not Scheduled Tribe. Similarly, paragraph 3 of the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951 provide that no person who professes a religion different from Hinduism shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste. There is no Constitutional provisions that allow a Hindu community to be SC, OBC and ST at the same time. They are mutually exclusive of each other and cannot mix like oil and water. A person can be a SC and OBC, but cannot be SC, OBC and ST at the same time. Basically the demand for becoming ST, when the Meitei community are already SC and OBC, does not make sense. Dr. Arambam Birajit assertion that “the claiming of being tribal status for the purpose of SC status clearly smacks of intellectual and academic dishonesty” has certain degree of truth in it.
Related article | Misinterpretation of Meitei as a tribe in the name of indigenous people; Meitei have outgrown their tribal social evolution
Seven SC groups from the Hindu Meitei social order of Manipur fulfilled the requisite conditions and are listed as SC in 1950-51 Order. This is because Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 provides in paragraph 3 that only a member of Hindu or Sikh religion shall be deemed to be a member of Scheduled Caste, but the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 does not provide any such condition and some Meiteis of lower caste were included in the SC list, and not ST list. So does it mean that Meiteis following the Sanamahi faith could have claimed to be a Schedule Tribe as they are not Hindus?
The Meitei community in Manipur had a number of learned/educated personalities during 1950’s besides those in the royal darbar, all of whom must have had a say on all important matters. There must have been followers of Sanamahi faith at that point in time, and if they are not Hindus they could have demanded for inclusion in the list of ST. A large number of Kabui/Kacha Naga live in the Imphal valley alongside with Meitei villages as their neighbour following an animistic religion like the Sanamahi faith and they have been included in the list of ST and not in the list of SC as they are not Hindus.
At page 2 of the “Main Report” under Chapter I of the Kalelkar Commission report the following is stated in para 6 under the caption, “Terms of Reference,” “6. The terms of reference of the Commission as announced in the Notification were:
The Backward Classes Commission shall,
(a) …..
(b) …..
(c) investigate such other matters as the President may hereafter refer to them; and
(d) present to the President a Report setting out the facts as found by them and making such recommendations as they may think proper.“ Further at page 5 under para 18 of Main Report the following is also stated:
“18. We gave, however, a patient hearing to the representatives of both Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The reason why the Commission heard these classes was that in the first instance it was good policy to let these backward classes feel that the Commission was not indifferent to their problems. The Commission was equally anxious to avail itself of every opportunity of knowing their condi
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