Manipur witnessed fatal ethnic violence in 2023 that was triggered with the proposal to to include the majority Meitei indigenous community in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list. Now Manipur Chief Minister and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader N Biren Singh has informed that the state is considering setting up a panel to discuss the Scheduled Tribe status of Kukis in the state.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has said that an all-tribe committee would be formed to decide on whether the Chin Kuki community would remain on the Scheduled Tribes list of the state.
According to an Indian Express report, Singh said Tuesday: “They were included in the list, but how it was included has to be reexamined. So before giving any comment, we have to form a committee consisting of all tribes, then only will we be able to send a complete proposal for deletion or inclusion… Anything might be… but after the committee is formed.”
The statement comes in the wake of the letter forwarded by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs seeking the state government’s views on the demand for deletion of the “nomadic Chin Kuki” community from Manipur’s ST list.
CM Singh, who also belongs to the Meitei community, was talking on the petition moved by Republican Party of India (Athawale) leader and forwarded by Centre, seeking ST status for Meitei community, while questioning the same for Kukis on ground of them being “outsiders”
Meitei leader Maheshwar Thounaojam, who is the national secretary of the Republican Party of India (Athawale), sent a petition to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs seeking a review of the ST list in the state, claiming that “the Kukis including Zomis of Manipur” do not qualify for it “on the ground that they are not original inhabitants of Manipur”.
Claiming that it was an “anomalous situation” that the Kukis have ST status in Manipur while the Meiteis do not, Thounaojam said in his petition, “Available historical records of authority and Census data of the erstwhile British Government of India and the Cheitharon Khumpaba (Royal Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur) point out that the Kukis inhabiting in Manipur are all refugees / migrants. On the other hand, Meetei / Meitei are the descendants of the original tribes of Manipur.”
Kuki is a collective name of various tribes of Manipur and Chin is one of those. The Chin community people also share ethnicity with the Mizos of Mizoram and a section of the residents of neighbouring Myanmar.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts.
Manipur has 34 recognised tribes, including ‘Any Mizo (Lushai) Tribes’ and ‘Any Kuki Tribes’. There has been an organized push since 2012 for the inclusion of the Meiteis in the ST list.
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Published: 10 Jan 2024, 11:01 AM IST