Manipur: Inclusion demand of Meitei/Meetei in Scheduled Tribe list

Imphal: Workers of the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee of Manipur (STDCM), mostly women, took to the streets at two different locations and attempted to march towards the Manipur Legislative Assembly.

On the last day of the third session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly, their efforts were foiled by the police at Lamphel Supermarket, Imphal, and Wangoi in Imphal West district on Thursday.
Carrying festoons and placards, they raised slogans demanding the inclusion of Meetei/Meitei in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list of the Constitution and taking a firm stand to send the report sought by the Centre. was called for to confirm whether the matey/matey could be. ST status was given during the assembly session.
“We have been pushing the state government for the past several years to forward the report but there has been no confirmation even though some MLAs who STDCM personally endorsed this demand.
On the festoons and placards they carried, they read, “We demand constitutional protection, add Meetei/Meitei to the list of Scheduled Tribes.”

A member of Committee I on the occasion of the protest.
Chaoba Meitei said inclusion of Meetei/Meitei in the ST list is the only way to save the community from future extinction.