ST Demand Echoes in Manipur
Sanamahi followers want constitutional recognition:
Imphal, Dec. 26: The followers of the Sanamahi faith, the traditional religion of the Meiteis in Manipur, are set to launch a campaign demanding Scheduled Tribe status.
Nearly 200 leaders of the faith assembled in Imphal East last week and resolved to launch a campaign for constitutional protection.
“We will soon approach the Centre and seek ST status,” president of the Laiyingthou Sanamahi Thougal Kanglup, an organisation of the Meitei community, Oinam Menjor Khuman said.
A majority of the Meiteis converted to Hinduism nearly 300 years ago following Bengali missionary Santidas Gosai’s influence on King Pamheiba.
After the king declared Hinduism as the state religion, the Meities who practised the traditional Sanamahi faith were forced to convert to Hinduism.
Descendants of a few families who continued to practise the faith secretly have now launched the movement for reviving the traditional Meitei religion.
The number of followers of the Sanamahi faith is not included in the census report and as such the religion is included under the list of other religions.
It is estimated that the population of the group could be over one lakh.
Manipur already has 32 Scheduled Tribe communities. According to the 2001 census, the total ST population is 6,77,723.
The figure, however, excludes population in three sub-divisions of Senapati district following a controversy over the authenticity of the report.
Khuman said his organisation would seek the opinion of scholars, constitutional experts and leaders of religious group.
“The members of the Sanamahi faith are backward both socially and economically, compared to the Hindu Meiteis. Unless they are guaranteed constitutional protection through inclusion in the ST list, the future of the group is bleak.”
“Categorising the indigenous communities in the state as SC, ST and general has created fissures in society. Inclusion of all ethnic groups in the ST list will forge unity among the communities,” Laishram Babloo, another leader of the religious group, said.
While the Meities fall under general category under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, all the tribal communities in the state are listed as Scheduled Tribe.
While a majority of the STs are Christians, most of the Meiteis are Hindus.
Khuman said they would submit a memorandum to President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh voicing their concern.
“The next course of our movement will depend on the response from the Centre as well as the state government.”
Assam too is on the boil over the ST status issue.
The six communities aspiring to ST status -- Adivasi, Koch Rajbongshi (also known as Sarania Kachari), Tai-Ahom, Chutia, Moran and Muttock -- are at present in the OBC category., for which the assigned reservation quota is 27 per cent.
Communities in the ST (Plains) and ST (Hills) categories are entitled to 10 per cent and 5 per cent reservation.
Posted On: The Telegraph
Imphal, Dec. 26: The followers of the Sanamahi faith, the traditional religion of the Meiteis in Manipur, are set to launch a campaign demanding Scheduled Tribe status.
Nearly 200 leaders of the faith assembled in Imphal East last week and resolved to launch a campaign for constitutional protection.
“We will soon approach the Centre and seek ST status,” president of the Laiyingthou Sanamahi Thougal Kanglup, an organisation of the Meitei community, Oinam Menjor Khuman said.
A majority of the Meiteis converted to Hinduism nearly 300 years ago following Bengali missionary Santidas Gosai’s influence on King Pamheiba.
After the king declared Hinduism as the state religion, the Meities who practised the traditional Sanamahi faith were forced to convert to Hinduism.
Descendants of a few families who continued to practise the faith secretly have now launched the movement for reviving the traditional Meitei religion.
The number of followers of the Sanamahi faith is not included in the census report and as such the religion is included under the list of other religions.
It is estimated that the population of the group could be over one lakh.
Manipur already has 32 Scheduled Tribe communities. According to the 2001 census, the total ST population is 6,77,723.
The figure, however, excludes population in three sub-divisions of Senapati district following a controversy over the authenticity of the report.
Khuman said his organisation would seek the opinion of scholars, constitutional experts and leaders of religious group.
“The members of the Sanamahi faith are backward both socially and economically, compared to the Hindu Meiteis. Unless they are guaranteed constitutional protection through inclusion in the ST list, the future of the group is bleak.”
“Categorising the indigenous communities in the state as SC, ST and general has created fissures in society. Inclusion of all ethnic groups in the ST list will forge unity among the communities,” Laishram Babloo, another leader of the religious group, said.
While the Meities fall under general category under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, all the tribal communities in the state are listed as Scheduled Tribe.
While a majority of the STs are Christians, most of the Meiteis are Hindus.
Khuman said they would submit a memorandum to President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh voicing their concern.
“The next course of our movement will depend on the response from the Centre as well as the state government.”
Assam too is on the boil over the ST status issue.
The six communities aspiring to ST status -- Adivasi, Koch Rajbongshi (also known as Sarania Kachari), Tai-Ahom, Chutia, Moran and Muttock -- are at present in the OBC category., for which the assigned reservation quota is 27 per cent.
Communities in the ST (Plains) and ST (Hills) categories are entitled to 10 per cent and 5 per cent reservation.
Posted On: The Telegraph