In 10 years of Meitei ST demand, repeated pleas to state, Centre

First demand, 2012

The Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee of Manipur (STDCM) was set up in November 2012. “We never went to court, because we understood that this is a matter for the government. But some of our colleagues got impatient and decided to approach the court,” STDCM general secretary Keithellakpam Bhogendrajit told The Indian Express.

When the Meitei Tribe Union (MTU) — which was formed last year — filed a writ petition in the HC in March 2023, numerous memorandums demanding ST status for Meiteis had already been submitted to both the state and Union governments.

The first of these memorandums was submitted by STDCM to then Governor of Manipur Gurbachan Singh Jagat in November 2012. The following month, the committee submitted the memorandum to then Congress Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh.

It argued that before the merger agreement between the Manipur kingdom and the Union of India in 1949, the British had designated the Meiteis as a “tribe amongst tribes”. “We are essentially demanding the restoration of our tribal status that we had under the British,’’ Keithellakpam said.

Union Govt response

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs wrote to the Manipur government on May 29, 2013, requesting a specific recommendation on the inclusion of Meiteis in the ST list, along with the latest socio-economic survey data and an ethnographic report on the community. Neither these documents nor any request to include the Meiteis in the ST list has ever been submitted by any government in Imphal.

Since the 2013 letter, some 30 different representations have been made to the state government, and another 10 to the Indian government in support of the demand, Keithellakpam said.

Under Modi Govt

The committee asked for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Manipur in January 2019. When it was denied permission, the committee submitted a memorandum to the PM through the Manipur Chief Secretary.

Soon afterward, on April 4, 2019, the Tribal Affairs Ministry wrote to the state government, asking for a formal request and relevant documents.

In December 2020, the STDCM sought to submit its memorandum to Home Minister Amit Shah, who was on a visit to the state. Thereafter, Keithellakpam said, the Manipur Home Department received a communication from the Union Home Ministry that pointed out that the state had not submitted the requisite documentation to the Centre.

With the state government silent on the issue, STDCM volunteers stormed the office of Chief Minister N Biren Singh in December 2021. The Chief Minister was not present, and the volunteers left another memorandum.

After the BJP won a second term in 2022, the committee requested a meeting with Biren, which was accepted. “The Chief Minister was very positive and assured us that he will look into the matter. But nothing happened thereafter,’’ Keithellakpam said.

The STDCM’s last memorandum was submitted to Shah through government representatives during his three-day visit last month, even as violent ethnic clashes raged.

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With over a month since ethnic clashes began, fault lines are deepening in Manipur where civilians, on either side of the divide, are picking up guns to defend themselves and target each other. (Express/Deeptiman Tiwary)

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Tensions continue on ground, especially in areas where the Meitei-dominated plains give way to the Kuki-populated hills. (Express/Deeptiman Tiwary)

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Three people were injured in a suspected IED blast in Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Wednesday evening. (Express/Deeptiman Tiwary)

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The Indian Express came across two young men – a 25-year-old Meitei hardware shop owner and a 23-year-old Kuki science teacher – who have spent these past weeks in trenches dug up in their villages, keeping a watch for any unwanted movement. (Express/Deeptiman Tiwary)

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A makeshift bunker made of sandbags and a tin roof at a Meitei village to the east of the Dimapur-Churachandpur highway in Manipur. (Express Photo: Deeptiman Tiwary)

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A graduate from a college in Bishnupur district, this 25-year-old spends more than 12 hours every day in the bunker south of the village. “I can’t counter such heavy firing with this single barrel. It does not even fire properly," he says.

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Standing guard in one of these bunkers is a 26-year-old science graduate working as a bank executive. Until recently, he had never fired or laid his hands on a gun. (Express/Deeptiman Tiwary)

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A locally assembled ‘pumpi gun’, which is triggered by pulling the rope and is potent enough to blow up a vehicle, is seen at a Kuki village close to Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts in Manipur (Express Photo: Deeptiman Tiwary)

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For additional security, the locals have dug up the road and mounted a ‘pumpi gun’ to ensure no one can get close to the Kuki village, which is located near the Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts in Manipur. (Express Photo: Deeptiman Tiwary)

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The village, with open fields before it, has a ring of 14 sandbag bunkers. Beyond the bunkers are a line of halogen bulbs strung up on bamboo poles to watch for movements. (Express/Deeptiman Tiwary)

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Destruction raged throughout Haokip Veng as ethnic violence rocked Manipur. (Express/Deeptiman Tiwary)

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This picture was taken at Haokip Veng, a Kuki colony in Imphal, which has been completely burned down (Express/Deeptiman Tiwary)

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To the left of the bamboo mesh, the fields have been dug up with JCBs to make military-style trenches and bunkers where gunmen keep watch day and night for any movement from the Meitei side. (Express/Deeptiman Tiwary)

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After initial large-scale clashes from May 3 to 5, Manipur has seen a second wave of violence, primarily in the form of arson and shootings in areas between the Kuki-dominated hills and the Meitei-dominated valley this week (Express/Deeptiman Tiwary)

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The worst incident in the fresh flare-up was on the night of June 13, when nine people were killed in incidents of firing and arson in Aigejang village in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district. (Express/Deeptiman Tiwary)

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Amid clashes, Dominic Lumon, the Archbishop of Imphal claimed that 249 churches belonging to Meitei Christians had been destroyed so far (Express/Deeptiman Tiwary)

‘Identity, not quota’

“This issue is important to us because it is about preserving Meitei identity and culture. In 1951, the population of Meiteis was 59%, which came down to 44% in 2011. It isn’t even about reservation. There are sections of the Meitei community who have SC status. Meiteis were also given OBC status so we do have some reservation,” Keithellakpam said.

The struggle, he said, was about the protection of the Meitei identity and lands. “We occupy only 8% of Manipur’s land despite being the dominant community. Anybody from outside can come here, buy land, and settle down. But we can’t even go to the hills, which is a part of our state, and buy land there. We want equal status,’’he added.

Tribal groups, on the other hand, argue that they now make up 40% of Manipur’s population, and are underrepresented in the Assembly.

Old ‘permit’ system

The first census of Manipur in 1881 reported a total population of 2,21,070 — 1,17,108 Meiteis, 85,288 individuals belonging to the hill tribes, 105 foreigners and Muslims, and 18,569 Mayangs (any non-Manipuri Indian).

In 1901, the Manipur kingdom devised a “permit” or “passport” system to control the entry of “foreigners” (which was understood to include other Indians as well) and non-Manipuris. The population of Manipur at this time was 2,84,465 (1901 Census). Subsequently, “foreigners” who wished to visit Manipur would need permission from the Manipur Durbar, and pay a tax.

The “permit” system regulated the influx of non-Manipuris and served as a source of revenue. Non-Manipuris could not buy property in Manipur.