IMPHAL, Aug 3 NNN: ATSUM in a memorandum submitted to CM O Ibobi said, “In the event of the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee Manipur (STDCM) gaining momentum for recognition of Meeteis as ST and considering the impending dangerous socio- political upheavals in the state, ATSUM said it does not have any political affiliation or allegiance to any political party.
The ATSUM memo said the ‘illogical’ claim that the Meeteis fulfilled all the criterion to become ST on the basis of Mongoloid race and prevalence of distinctive religion and culture is irrational on the ground that any community big or small practice some form of religion and possess a unique culture of their own. In other words, having religion or separate culture doesn’t necessarily mean or constitute the prime reason to include a particular community to be in the list of scheduled tribe, ATSUM stated.
According to the tribal student body, in the Constitution of India, no criteria has been spelt out for specification of a community as a Scheduled Tribe.
“As however, taking into account the definitions in the 1931 census and the reports of the First Backward classes commission 1955, the advisory committee on revision of ST/ SC 1965 and the joint committee of Parliament on SCs and STs orders amendment bill 1967 and basically basing on Article 342 of the constitution, the criteria such as for specification of a community as a scheduled tribe include indication of primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with community at large, and backwardness,” ATSUM pointed out.
“The Scheduled Tribes are the tribes or tribal communities or part of groups within these tribes and tribal communities which have been declared as such by the president through a public notification partly by habitat and geographical isolation but even more on the basis of social, religion, linguistic and cultural distinctiveness—their tribal characteristic. Scheduled tribes are spread across the country mainly in the forest and hilly regions who are segregated from the rest of the world socially and economically,” the memorandum further pointed out.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/atsum-on-meitei-status/
