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In its order of April 19 to hear a petition filed by the Meitei Tribal Confederation for the status of Scheduled Tribe (ST) for the Meitei majority community in the state of Manipur, the Manipur High Court noted that a decision on this issue has not yet been made due to the negligence of the state government which has not yet sent Recommendation to the Center for the inclusion of the Meitei community in the ST List.
In adjudicating the case, the Supreme Court directed the Government of Manipur “to consider the petitioners’ case for inclusion of the Meetei/Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe List, expeditiously, preferably within a period of four weeks” from the date of the order.
The court explained that the decision to include Meiteis in the ST list will be examined by the Federal Ministry of Tribal Affairs once it receives the recommendation of the state government.
The Supreme Court order, issued last month, has been at the heart of tensions between the Koki tribe and the majority of the Mitte population which eventually escalated into violent clashes between the two communities over the past two days. The All Tribal Students Union of Manipur, currently controlled by student leaders from the Kuki community, led a march against the Meitei ST demand which first ignited violence in a district bordering the Meitei-dominated Bishnupur and Kuki-dominated Churachandpur districts.
While the Meiteis have in the past noted opposition from the state’s tribal communities to not being included in the ST list, the Supreme Court in its order has repeatedly indicated that the Meitei-dominated state government was unable to send a recommendation for inclusion.
In their petition, the Meitei Tribal Confederation argued that the status of the Meitei community prior to the implementation of the merger agreement with India on 21 September 1949 was that of a “tribe among the tribes of Manipur”.
The petition further says that during the incorporation of Manipur, an independent kingdom, with the union of India, the Meitei community lost its tribal identity as the community was excluded while preparing the list of Scheduled Tribes of India under Article 342 of the Constitution. Hence, “Meitei/Meitei should be included as a tribe among the tribes of Manipur so as to preserve the said society and to preserve the ancestral land, their traditions, culture and language”.
In 2013, in response to the requests of the Scheduled Tribal Applications Committee for inclusion, the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs wrote to the Government of Manipur “requesting a specific recommendation along with the most recent socio-economic survey and ethnographic report”.
Despite this letter dated May 29, 2013, the Manipur government has not made a recommendation.
In April 2022, the Meeti Tribal Federation submitted representation to the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs with a copy to 12 authorities, including the Principal Secretary in Manipur, seeking inclusion of the Meeti tribe of Manipur in the Scheduled Tribe List under the Indian Constitution. In May 2022, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs referred the representation to the Secretary to the Government of Manipur. In its letter to the state government, the Department of Tribal Affairs said that special tribes are notified under Section 342 of the Constitution that the Indian government has approved methods for “determining claims for inclusion and other modifications in the list of tribes.”
“According to these methods, only proposals recommended and justified by the concerned state government and approved by the RGI as well as the NCSI to amend legislation are considered. All actions are taken in accordance with the approved modalities. The recommendation of the concerned state government is a precondition for addressing the issue,” the tribal ministry said in its letter. .
The Manipur High Court noted that it was clear from the ministry’s letter that a recommendation from the state government was pending
2013 from the Government of India, Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Hence, the issue of including the Meetei/Meitei community in the list of Scheduled Tribes in the Constitution is pending. For nearly ten years or more. There is no forthcoming satisfactory explanation on the part of the Respondent State for not making the recommendation within the past ten years. Therefore, it would be appropriate to direct the Respondent State to submit its recommendation to the Department of Tribal Affairs within a reasonable time,” it noted. supreme court.
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