Manipur: CM Forms Committee to Address Scheduled Tribe Status Controversy
N. Biren Singh forms committee on tribal status amid ethnic tensions. Union Ministry awaits state's recommendation for Scheduled Tribe list changes.
IMPHAL: In a significant move, Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh declared on Wednesday the formation of a committee representing all tribal communities. This committee is tasked with deliberating on the contentious demand for the inclusion or exclusion of Chin-Kuki from the Scheduled Tribes list in the state.
The recommendations of this proposed committee will be submitted to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs for a decisive action. The announcement follows a bout of ethnic violence between non-tribal Meiteis and tribal Kukis in the northeastern state in the aftermath of a 'Tribal Solidarity March' on May 3 the previous year. The march was organized in the hill districts to protest the Meitei community's call for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Manipur, with 34 diverse communities, witnessed tensions escalating.
The Union Tribal Affairs Ministry recently wrote to the Manipur government in response to a representation by the Republican Party of India-Athawale’s national Secretary, Maheshwar Thounaojam. The letter sought the deletion of "Nomadic Chin-Kuki" from the list of Scheduled Tribes in Manipur. Importantly, the Union Ministry emphasized that the state government's recommendation is essential to advance the case further.
In a previous communication last year, Manipur’s Special Secretary in the Tribal Affairs and Hills Department had requested the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs to take action for the deletion of 'Any Kuki Tribe' from the list of Scheduled Tribes and rectify the name of 'Any Mizo (Lushai) Tribe' to 'Mizo,' as approved by the state cabinet.
Maheshwar Thounaojam, the national Secretary of the Republican Party of India-Athawale, expressed optimism about the Ministry of Tribal Affairs' response and urged the Manipur government to promptly send the recommendation. Additionally, he called for the removal of two Manipur Ministers from Kuki tribes, accusing them of advocating for a separate administration equivalent to a separate state, citing Article 164 of the Constitution.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), representing tribals in Manipur, strongly opposed the government's actions. They viewed it as a coordinated effort to manipulate the state machinery against the Kuki-Zo community, warning that such endeavors could escalate conflict and have adverse consequences for the Chief Minister and the state. The ITLF asserted that altering the criteria for Scheduled Tribe status, established by the Lokur Committee in 1965, was an attempt by the Manipur government to displace and deprive Kuki-Zo tribals of their rights and land.
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