Imphal: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has said that an all-tribe committee would be formed to decide on whether the Chin Kuki community would remain on the Scheduled Tribes list of the state.
The chief minister's statement comes in the wake of a letter by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs seeking the state government's views on the demand for deletion of the "nomadic Chin Kuki" community from Manipur's ST list.
Chief Minister Singh, who belongs to the Meitei community, was talking on the petition moved by Maheshwar Thounaojam, national secretary of the Republican Party of India (Athawale) and forwarded by the Centre, seeking ST status for the Meitei community, while questioning the same for Kukis on ground of them being “outsiders".
Thounaojam, who also belongs to the Meitei community, had claimed that the “Kukis including Zomis of Manipur” do not qualify for it “on the ground that they are not original inhabitants of Manipur".
“Available historical records of authority and Census data of the erstwhile British Government of India and the Cheitharon Khumpaba (Royal Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur) point out that the Kukis inhabiting Manipur are all refugees/migrants. On the other hand, Meetei / Meitei are the descendants of the original tribes of Manipur”, Thounaojam said in his petition.
"They were included in the (ST) list of Manipur but how they were included needs to be re-examined. Before making a comment, we have to form a committee consisting of all tribes (of the state)," CM Singh told reporters here on Tuesday.
After getting the panel's recommendations, the state government will be able to send its view on the matter, he said.
Kuki is a collective name of various tribes of Manipur and Chin is one of those. The Chin community people also share ethnicity with the Mizos of Mizoram and a section of the residents of neighbouring Myanmar.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts.
Manipur has 34 recognised tribes, including ‘Any Mizo (Lushai) Tribes’ and ‘Any Kuki Tribes’. There has been an organized push since 2012 for the inclusion of the Meiteis in the ST list.
Manipur has been rocked by ethnic violence since May last year and over 180 people were killed.
The violence erupted on May 3 after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
With PTI inputs