Granting ST status to Meiteis: A different angle

Mayengbam Jaganivas *

Peoples' Convention on 'ST Status In Manipur' at Iboyaima Shanglen on 14th May 2016 :: Pix - Shankar Khangembam

There have been lots of arguments and counter arguments on the volatile topic of granting "ST status to Meiteis" in the papers these days. The tribal communities are against it for fear that it will encroach their rights and entitlements. Among the meitei community also lots of renowned personalities and organizations are coming out which are against the inclusion of Meiteis in ST category citing numerous reasons. I am not against the demand or for the demand of ST status for Meiteis.

The quota system in a big flaw in the Indian constitution. It violates the Right to Equality granted by the constitution. (please refer my earlier article: The right to Equality or the right to inequality) It needs to be abolished but the politicians are unable to do so due to fear of losing vote banks.

The Meitei community's desire to avail this flaw to improve their social status may be right from the point of view of a common man but it's facing a big hurdle from the intellectual section of its own community.

There is no doubt that Meiteis qualify to be included in ST category as per the terms laid out in the constitution. Every people in mainland India also finds it hard to digest that Meiteis belong to General category while the rest of the mongoloid fold of northeast India belong to the ST category. It is difficult to differentiate Meitei from other tribal communities; physically, socially or through language. It is only the government that is able to differentiate the Meiteis from other tribal communities.

A big argument put forward by those who are against granting "ST status to Meiteis" is that it will break the unity of hill and valley people or Meiteis and tribal. I 'm totally dumbfounded on this argument. Is there any unity between the hill and valley people or the Meitei and tribal communities at all? Its bitter to accept the truth, though these leaders may profess about unity, there is hardly any unity between the hill and valley people today. I read in some article by some organizations that claim that "Meitei's ability/quality to accommodate and embrace all community is the unifying factor for all communities in the state".

I want to ask for proof of this statement. When and how the Meiteis treated the tribal as equal or embrace them whole heartedly? To my knowledge, Meiteis didn't treat the tribal as equal to them. In history too, Meiteis had never treated the tribal as amongst them or their people. They used to demand tributes from each and every tribal village and those who defy their dictate were inflicted unimaginable atrocities and for this the tribal communities also won't spare any opportunity to avenge the Meiteis. After adoption of Hinduism, the Meiteis treated the tribal communities as untouchables. This caste system further strains the already sore relation between the two communities.

So which unity is being professed by these leaders? I am not saying there are no instances of camaraderie and friendship between the Meiteis and the tribal communities in history but the pain of unfair treatment and atrocities far outweighs the memories of friendship that is why the tribal communities today are still having a hard feeling for all the wrongdoings of Meiteis in the past.

The Meiteis attitude of being superior to other communities as reflected in each and every article that is publishing nowadays against the demand for granting "ST status to Meiteis" should go away if we want to unite all communities in the state. Derogatory remarks like "quota khara fangnabagidamak meitei na hao ongadaba natte" should not be used which show Meitei's stupidity and in-sensitiveness. In order to bring peace and to unite the people we need a common platform; people should be at same level in status, spirit and action.

Professing that we are brothers and sisters, we belong to the same parents, same roots etc. etc. are mere words, it won't bring any unity in the people. Unity can be brought when people enjoy the same status, treated equally in all respect and have a common vision. Our present Manipuri society lacks these characters. So ST status for all communities living in the state may be a choice to unite the people who are currently divided in different lines; religion wise, status wise, economic wise, opportunity wise. Who knows?

An extreme view: In order to unify the people and create the society we desire, we need strong leaders who knows our issues inside out and who belong to our community (Naga, Kuki, Meitei or Meitei Pangal i.e a Manipuri). We need to create a strong love for our motherland. If the Manipuris desire an independent state we can have it provided we create strong leaders who can fulfill our desires.

Recall that Pen is mightier than the sword. Gun is not the only solution to create an independent state. In fact in the past two decades, lots of nations/states were created through independence referendums/plebiscite like, Slovenia carved out from Yugoslavia (1990), Armenia, Azerbaijan, Latvia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan from Soviet Union (1991), Croatia, Macedonia from Yugoslavia (1991), Eritrea from Ethiopia (1992), East Timor from Indonesia (1999), Montenegro from Serbia and Montenegro (2006), South Sudan from Sudan (2011) etc. Two more independence referendum is due this year to create South Ossetia and South Kurdistan.

In order to create a conducive environment and to propose an independence referendum (if desired), we can exploit the flaw (Quota system) of the Indian constitution to create more able officers of IAS / IPS caliber. In the recently announced UPSC exam 7 candidates cleared it from our state which is less than 0.6% of the total 1078 selected. We can change this figure.

Those who are taking up arms against the Indian Union can create another front of exploiting this flaw (Quota system) to create more able officers who can serve their purpose. Producing 20 IAS/IPS officers every year from the state is not a herculean task. When the political leaders and the bureaucrat class in the state are in favour of an independent state, Independence referendum is a possibility.

But to remind once again, creating a society where everybody is equal should be the first step because in our current situation, even if we are allowed to have an independence referendum, it will fail miserably, the ST communities will prefer to live in Indian Union which grants them special privileges, benefits and quotas instead of living in the Independent Manipur where everybody is equal. So who knows ST status for all can be this first step?

A poor man's view: The demand for "ST status" is opposed by some Meitei academicians, Intellectuals and elite groups in the past and today also. Meiteis are not in ST category today because of their opposition. They knew that it won't bring any good or change to their already improved status or worth so they opposed it giving innumerable reasons. But they have grossly neglected the views and interest of the poor Meitei community and they need to be punished for this crime.

See from the view of poor people, a rickshaw puller or a manual labourer or a street vendor, who hardly manages to earn square meal a day. They have to sacrifice their children's education to live. Those children who have the caliber of contributing much for the good of the society are denied proper education on the other hand the children of this elite group continues to enjoy the best education and services. In-spite of numerous odds and hurdles we often find students from among these poorest of the poor emerging as toppers in HSLC exam, HSSLC exam, MBBS Exam etc. and when such news comes out these elite groups will shower praises, gifts and money pampering the student.

Is it a joke??? Does every poor student have to be toppers to get rewarded what about those poor students who can't be a topper but had the same sufferings and did same hard work. Why can't these elite people see their sufferings instead of the results? Why are they against giving some opportunity to these poor students the benefits and entitlements allowed to ST students? Do they fear that these poor students will start to compete their children or threaten their positions later? So why are they against the demand of poor Meitei community to get "ST status". This is what every underprivileged section of the Meitei community today thinks.

My views: We may have different opinions on this issue of granting "ST status to Meiteis" but we shouldn't indulge in belittling one another. I want to quote Dr. Phil, an American psychologist and TV presenter "If your neighbor has a completely different view on abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research, all of those things, you still are both Americans. Neither one of you is necessarily more patriotic than the other. Neither loves their country any more than the other one does."

Rightly said criticizing one another for having a different opinion doesn't prove that you are right and more patriotic than the other. Using harsh and derogatory words to criticize the other in any form of media is unjustified and uncalled for. Criticism should be constructive and proper words should be used.

The Indian government has given the right to in-equality or in-equal treatment in the form of quota system, so it's not surprising for Meiteis to go after this right since they deserve it, many communities in other states of India are also pursuing the same. Forget Meiteis and other small tribes even the Jat community which has a population of 82.5 million is demanding the quota system.

I believe in providing assistance to poor and weaker section so as to enable them to compete with the other. But we should not encourage unhealthy competition through reserving seats or quota. Every post, be it public or private, should be given to deserving candidates only through a fair competition or exam. The quota system is promoting unhealthy competition. It is a blot in the Indian constitution and sooner or later India is going to face a big crisis because of this quota system.