IT News
Imphal, Apr 28:
Kangleipak Kanba Lup (KKL) in a statement today said that the Meeteis are demanding the inclusion of the Meetei tribe in the scheduled list of Tribes in the Constitution of India is not aimed at grabbing jobs either from the Naga or Kuki communities of Manipur but to safeguard their little bit of land now confined to less than 2000 square kilometers out of the 20,000 square kilometers of the entire State. They need not fear about grabbing their job reservation quotas currently enforced in Manipur which will remain status quo. And if any job opportunity should arise it will be on an All India basis where the Meeties will be competing with other advanced tribes of India like the Bheels for instance. The UNC and KIM have no birthright to deny any other scheduled tribes of India that job opportunity should be denied to them.
The statement further said that both the Naga and Kuki Communities of Manipur are at liberty to condemn the Manipur High Court for giving the directive to the Manipur Government to that effect. They may also condemn the Governments of Manipur as well as India if it goes through or even takes up arms against the Centre for the making classification forming a Joint Kuki-Naga Front.
To the UNC the KKL stated that the Manipuri Language be classified as the scheduled language of the Country under the Eight Schedule has nothing to do with the classification of the Meeteis as a scheduled tribe of India. The Assamese Language has been in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution since its adoption in 1950. But recently both the Assam Government as well as the Centre have agreed on the demand of the inclusion of the Ahom Tais a community amongst the Assamese speaking population of Assam. The inclusion of the Ahom Tais as a Scheduled Tribe of India is on the agenda of the talks between the Arbinda Rajkhoha led United Liberation Front of Ahom (ULFA), the KKL added.
The KKL also reminded the UNC to remember the words of the venerable Ava Koser Thiungaleng Muivah that only the Nagas and the Meeteis are the indigenous peoples of Manipur.
“What is the idea of joining hands with the Kukis to block the way for the survival of the Meeteis under the Indian Constitution”, the KKL asked.
To the Tangkhul Community, the KKL stated that the folklore that the Tangkhuls consider the Meeteis as their younger brother and that on the day of the Coronation the Meetei King adorns the dress of a Tangkhul and no Meetei wedding is complete without a Tangkhul Lerum fee or cloth. And no Meetei Laiharaoba is complete without the appearance of the Tangkhul saba and is a sine quo non. And there is still the living custom of the Meetei King, titular or otherwise visiting Hundung Village in Ukhrul to meet his elder brother the Chief of Hundung Village, called Parihanba. And thus why should the elder brother object to the younger brother getting the protection of his land and culture as a scheduled tribe of India, the KKL stated.
To the question of Meeteis being more advanced than the tribals of Manipur has nothing to do with genealogy but it is because of the Mode of Production. The Meeteis follow settled agriculture so that they have more time to concentrate on arts, culture and literature while the tribals hitherto used to follow slash-and-burn agriculture before switching to Poppy plantation which will make them all become rich.
