The calling attention motion moved by
the opposition leader, Irengbam Ibohalbi of Trinamool Congress, in the Manipur
state assembly on February 2014 to consider the demand of Meiteis ‒a dominant
community of the state ‒ for scheduled tribe staus, is quite surprising.
The Demand
Of course, Ibohalbi merely was
echoing the demand of the Scheduled Tribes Demand Committee of Manipur Valley
(STDCM). In fact, the Meitei demand for scheduled tribe status
began with the STDCM submitting a memorandum on 30 November 2012 to Governor
Gurbacharan, who had reportedly “assured to lend assistance towards their
realization of their demand”. The committee further met the Chief Minister
Okram Ibobi Singh on 18 December 2012, and on 10 July 2013 the committee along
with T Meinya, the Inner Manipur constituency MP, met Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh, who reportedly asked the STDCM to first discuss the case in the state
cabinet.
The Meitei, a Hindu community,
comprises both scheduled castes as well as the dwija castes
(twice-born). It is surprising that it is the dwija castes, or
the dominant upper castes, who are demanding the scheduled tribes status, which
is given only to groups which exhibit primitive traits, have a distinctive
culture, are geographically isolated and are extremely backward. In other
words, it is the forward classes which are demanding the status of backward
classes.
In their memorandum, the STDCM
mentioned that if their demand is granted, it “will certainly help [bring]
about integration of hill and plain people”. This is rather illogical, as
development gap between the valley and hill people cannot be bridged by merely
changing the social category of the dominant caste group, residing in the
plains, to that of marginalised hill tribes. Instead, it would be ideal, if we
could raise the hill tribes’ level of development to that of dominant caste
groups and help the hill people to get rid of their stigmatised tribal
identity.
Reasons Put Forward for Inclusion
The STDCM in their memorandum to the
governor argued that the Meitei, even though having converted to Hinduism, have
not entirely given up animistic practices. In fact, religion was never a
criterion for inclusion in the Constitution’s scheduled tribes list. The
1901 census, classified people as tribals if they practiced “animism”. But
this was no longer a criterion for successive censuses.
All communities specified as tribes
by the colonial administration were considered for inclusion in the list of scheduled
tribes according to the Constitution
(Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 issued by the president. The
Meiteis were not included in this list.
According to the First Backward Class
Commission“Scheduled Tribes may belong to any religion.” Religion,
therefore, is no longer considered to be a criterion for inclusion in the
Constitution’s scheduled tribes list in independent India. The tribals may
practice animism, but this is not a ground enough for inclusion in the list;
rather it is just a criterion that the government has adopted from time to
time.
The tribal status has also been
claimed on the ground that the Meitei are also part of the same linguistic as
well as racial group (mongoloid) to which hill tribes belong. It is a fact that
they do belong to the same stock as the hill tribes ‒ racially as well as
linguistically. However, race and language are not grounds for inclusion in the
scheduled tribes list. In fact, the Meitei language has a well developed script
(mayek) and has been included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian
Constitution.
Other features pointed out by STDCM
to claim the scheduled tribes status, such as food habits (non-vegetarianism),
observance of certain practices belonging to their old religion, etc.,
have nothing to do with the criteria adopted by the government of India since
the First Backward Classes Commission (1953).
In principle, the demand is
inconsistent with the idea of compensatory discrimination. Scheduling of tribes has
been basically done so that the state can uplift the backward classes or weaker
sections within the population by adopting preferential discrimination. This
demand by the forward classes is not likely to promote harmony and bring about
integration between the hill and the valley people, as the STDCM suggests.
Rather, it would further aggravate the already existing tension between them.
In fact, the hill tribes would be further marginalised in their own ancestral
territory.
Scheduling Tribes
The President of India, by using the
power vested in him under Article 342 of the Indian Constitution, issued the
Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order in 1950 for Part A & B states
and for Part C States in 1951. This order specified tribes who were categorised
as “depressed classes” before independence as scheduled tribes.
Adhering to Article 340 of the Constitution of India, the First Backward
Classes Commission was set up by a presidential order on 29 January 1953 under
the chairmanship of Kaka Kalelkar. Based on the report of the
commission, the scheduled tribes list was modified by an act of Parliament ‒The
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Order (amendment) Act, 1956. One of the
criteria laid down by the Backward Classes Commission for inclusion of a
community in the scheduled tribe list was as follows:
The Scheduled Tribes can be generally
ascertained by the fact that they live apart in hills, and even where they live
on the plains, they lead a separate excluded existence and are not fully
assimilated in the main body of the people. Scheduled Tribes may belong to any
religion. They were listed as scheduled Tribes because of the kind of life led
by them”. (Backward Classes Commission’s (1955) questionnaire).
It is important to note, besides the
criteria, the methodology adopted by the commission to determine the
eligibility whether a group can be included in the scheduled tribe list. The
commission distributed a questionnaire with the above criterion mentioned in
the preamble to each state and requested a list of groups who should be
included in the scheduled tribe list. A list of 29 tribes was given by the
Manipur state government to be included in the list. Thus, the whole process
followed by the commission involved states, and it was in consultation
with the states that the report was prepared.
Since 1956, the government of India
set up various commissions from time to time to look into the affairs of
SCs/STs. The inclusion criteria is not spelt out in the Constitution, but
criteria presently adopted by the government is published in the website of
Tribal Affairs Ministry:
The criterion followed for
specification of a community, as scheduled tribes are indications of primitive
traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with
the community at large, and backwardness.
(www.tribal.nic.in/Content/DefinitionpRrofiles.aspx)
It is further mentioned that these
criteria have become well established and subsume the definitions
contained in 1931Census, the reports of First Backward Classes Commission 1955,
the Advisory Committee (Kalelkar), Revision of SC/ST lists (Lokur
Committee), 1965. (ibid)
Demand Examined by NCST
Any community has the right to demand
its inclusion in the scheduled tribes list. However, it is the responsibility
of the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes (NCST) to give technical inputs
to the government of India for any representation received from
individuals/ petitioners/associations and other forums for the inclusion
of a community in the scheduled tribe list, or representation received from the
Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Either way, the commission carefully examines the
references, keeping in mind provisions under Article 342(1) and Article
342(2) and the various presidential orders from time to time.
The NCST, according to the
guidelines, has to ascertain a proposal made on the basis of the criteria
mentioned above. To accord the Meiteis the scheduled tribe status, the NCST has
to look into aspects of the community’s way of living, social customs and
religious practices, dialect, and educational and economic status.
In terms of the “way of living”, as
per guidelines, the habitation of Meiteis is not geographically isolated.
They inhabite a very fertile valley connected with the outside world by three
national highways and with one airport. The Meitei have a rich cultural
heritage, and a well developed sense of hygine. Their main occupations
are wetland paddy cultivation, fishery, sericulture, etc. They are, of course,
non-vegetarian except for some very religious individuals from higher
castes; this is more of a personal choice. Among the Meitei only the scheduled
caste brew alcoholic drinks.
As far as “social customs and
religious practices” are concerned, the Meitei have indigenised
Vaishnavite-Hinduism, and still practice some Sanamahi (the
old religion of the Meitei)rites. However, they perform Hindu rituals and
ceremonies for marriage. The Meitei, except the scheduled caste
communities, worship all deities of the Vaishnavism along with Pakhangba, the
deity of the old religion of the Meitei. They have a well developed culture of
weaving. They are much more dictated by caste and its hierarchy rather
than their clan. In fact, earlier, they were known to practice untouchability
toward scheduled castes and the hill tribes, which they called
‘Hau’. Their language Meitei has a well developed script (mayek)
and has been included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
When it comes to their educational and
economic status, the Meitei are not behind other advanced classes/castes in
India. The districts inhabited by the Meitei have literacy rate between 76-87
%. The Meitei, as a community, live relatively well. They are well
represented in the government and have largely occupied two-third
seats in the state legislative assembly.
Conclusions
It is
rather ironical that after more than 65 years of independence, the forward
classes of society are demanding the status of “backward classes”. This
undermines or disregards the work done by successive governments. Meeting
such a demand would mean granting tribal status to the dominant dwija castes.
This would be inconsistent with the idea of scheduling of tribes and the
principle of positive discrimination and affirmative action.
L Lam Khan Piang
Economic & Political Weekly |
Vol. 49, Issue No. 15, 12 Apr, 2014
Courtesy:
https://www.epw.in/journal/2014/15/reports-states-web-exclusives/moving-backwards.html
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