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 ...