Why Meeteis/Meiteis Should Not Scheduled Tribe Status?

1. Meiteis have 2000-year-old recorded history of kingship and kingdom starting from their first king Nongda Lairen Pakhangba who reigned in 33 AD.
2. Meiteis have unique Meitei script known as Meitei Mayek which dates back to 6th Century AD where it was engraved on coins. Metei script is a curriculum in school syllabus. Starting from 2021, Meitei script (officially known as Meetei Mayek) was officially used by the Government of Manipur, along with the Bengali-Assamese script, to write the Meitei language, as per “The Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021”. All the vernacular newspapers are told to publish in Meitei script with effect from February 2023.
3. Meiteis have maintained a written history book called “Cheitharol Kumbaba” (Royal
   Chronicles of Manipur) that records the history of Meitei kings down the years.
4. Manipuri literature is included in the syllabus till University level and it is included as one of the Optionals in UPSC Mains exam.
5. Manipuri language is one of the 22 official languages of India, included in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution which was inserted in the 71st Amendment Act in 1992.
6. Meiteis are already protected under OBC, SC and EBC.
7. Meiteis have their own way of reading days and follow a traditional calendar called Maliyaifam Palcha Kumsing which tribals don’t have.
8. Despite being in General, OBC, SC & EBC categories, Meiteis get into IAS/IPS/IRS every year. They have been into top 11, 23, many within 100/200/300/400 in UPSC civil services exams every year. The latest one, in the just declared UPSC 2022 exam, one Meitei guy got into AIR 83. Most of the young DCs and SPs of Manipur are now Meiteis. Few years down the line, all the heads of the Departments will be Meiteis only. On the other hand, tribals in Manipur are no longer producing IAS/IPS anymore. Meiteis don’t need to become ST to get into IAS/IPS or IIT/NIT or top medical colleges. They’re at par with mainland Indians now. What if Meiteis become ST? They will grab all the IAS/IPS seats every year. Their only competition amongst the STs will be Meenas of Rajasthan. Rest of the tribals will only get into other allied services in UPSC civil services. The only way to get into IAS/IPS will be through state PCS exams, on the verge of retirement. Therefore, Meiteis entry into ST category is a threat to all the STs of India and needs to be resisted by all STs of India tooth and nail. Tribals of Assam have started raising their voices against Meiteis and other communities of Assam who are trying to get into ST fold. All tribals of others states in India should also know these facts and oppose the Meiteis demand for inclusion in the ST.
9. It’s only their greed for land that makes them clamor for ST status. Over the years, Meiteis have been trying to come up with different laws like Manipur Land Revenue & Land Reformation (MLR & LR) Act, 1960 and the infamous ‘Three Bills’—all to enable them access to hill districts, but all failed. It’s purely land issue. If they become ST, they will be able to buy land in hills and thrive everywhere. Since they are rich and

the prices of land are much cheaper in hills compared to valley, Meiteis will buy big lands easily and the tribals being poor will sell their lands to Meiteis for the ‘high’ prices. In this way, lands of the present tribals Kukis and Nagas will shrink easily by selling away the beautiful slopes and foothills to the Meiteis and they will move back to the jungles. Like Tripura, the tribals will go back to jungles and high terrains and the Meiteis will occupy all the beautiful valleys and gentle slopes. Therefore, all the tribals of India in general and Manipur in particular should join hands to fight this ST demand by Meiteis tooth and nail.

10. Is Meitei land small? No. Meiteis are dominant in 6 districts viz., Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal, Kakching, Bishnupur and Jiribam. The size of Meitei land, often referred to as Manipur valley including Jiribam is 2232 sq. km which is much bigger than Delhi (1,483 sq. km). Delhi’s 2023 population is estimated at 32,941,308 (Three crores twenty-nine lakhs, forty-one thousand, three hundred and eight). Whereas, total population of Meiteis is around 20 lakhs only. Delhi is the fifth most populous city in the world and the largest city in India area-wise. The city has a population density of 29,259.12 people per square mile, which is one of the highest in the world. In comparison to Delhi, Manipur valley’s population can grow more than 3 crores with the available land but it may not reach that number in the 21st century. There are so many unoccupied lands, hillocks, paddy fields, khas lands, etc. in the valley. Land is also not to be made an issue.
11. Meiteis are not homogenous community but a mixture of different ethnicities. Those with Sharma, Manoharmayum, Brahmacharimayum, etc. as their surnames are converts from Bengali Brahmins and are regarded as high caste people. They are called as “Bamons” (Brahmins) and addressed them with honorific title “Aigya”. In all ceremonial occasions, Meiteis only eat foods cooked by these “Bamons”. These high caste people are also against this ST demand by majority Meiteis. There are certain groups belonging to Scheduled Castes like Kakching, Phayeng, Sekmai, Andro, etc. who speak slightly different Manipuri dialect. Meiteis until recently called the tribals in a derogatory language “Hao” and despised the tribals as hillmen and considered impure. They didn’t allow the tribals to enter their houses as that may bring pollution to the family. Any good and beautiful things are associated with Meiteis and the ugly and inedible things are tagged “Hao” which refers to tribals and is derogatory and backward. They often address the tribals as “lawai macha” (backward people) and called them “Haopang” (foolish backward people). Now, they want to enter into that ‘foolish backward impure people’ fold. What a downgrading move!
12. The game of polo was originated from Manipur and taken to the rest of the world by Britishers. Manipur is also known as the powerhouse of sports. Compared to other tribal states like Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur is very much ahead of them in all fields.

All these facts clearly established that Meiteis are highly civilized heterogenous community having all the characteristics of advanced communities. They do not have any characteristic feature to become ST. STs are those people who are having indications of primitive traits, living in geographical isolation, having shyness of contact with community at large, backward, etc. Meiteis have been living in plain for two millennia and has never had any shyness of contact with anyone or never been isolated. Their recorded history writings, advanced literature with unique script and two millenia old history of kingship and kingdom

all prove that Meiteis are not backward but a highly civilized and advanced community. History is proof that Meiteis had strong kingdom with large armies on horses and chariots and had war with neighboring communities or countries and fought with everyone throughout history.