Imphal: Hundreds of students in Manipur’s southern Kakching district participated in a rally demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Meitei/Meetei community.
Organized by the World Meetei Council (WMC), students from several schools marched for 3-4 kilometres along the highway, carrying banners and chanting slogans.
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ST status is seen as essential to the future of the Meitei community, a participant said.
Banners depicted the state’s Chief Minister with pleas for recognition, while student placards echoed these sentiments.
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This student action reflects a broader movement by the WMC, organizations, and the Meitei community itself.
In 2013, the Central Ministry of Tribal Affairs wrote to the State Government to send “specific recommendations along with the latest socio-economic survey and ethnographic report” for its consideration to include the Meitei/Meetei community in the ST list of India.
However, the State Government is yet to send its recommendations. Significantly, the Meiteis mainly residing in the valley districts of Manipur are not included in the ST list of India.
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However, during British rule in India, the Meiteis were classified as a primitive hill tribe of the Assam Province. When Manipur merged with the Union of India in 1949, they had tribal status during British rule Manipur was under British rule from 1891 to 1947.