Who is indigenous?
All of us have claim to come from a place other than Manipur and we have all made it home. And at the same we all claim to be indigenous and we use the term to discriminate and foment hatred.
Meiteis are not Indigenous People of Manipur
Lt Col Laishram Lokendra Singh(Retd) *
Saroi Khangba (propitiation of the evil spirits) observed by Meiteis on 8th March 2014 :: Pix - Deepak Oinam/Shankar Kh
Except for the die-hard few Meiteis who have been strongly conditioned to believe that they are descendents of Arjuna of Mahabharata fame and they are therefore Mayang Aryans, the overwhelming majority Meiteis do believe that they are Yelhoumee – the indigenous people of Manipur; that their forefathers were the original first settlers of this part of the world and they have maintained historical continuity in living in this land. No logic can therefore say that they are not Yelhoumee/ Indigenous People of Manipur.
Scientifically also it has been determined that the so called valley area of Manipur was once upon a time under water. Due to regular siltation during rains from the surrounding hills over a period of time, water dried up and the land became congenial for human habitation. People from the hills came down and settled in the valley. Those early settlers may have been called by different names then, today they are however collectively known as Meiteis.
With this as the logic and fearful of being overwhelmed by the relentless influx of Mayangs (in local parlance) - people from mainland India, in the near future, civil society organisations have raised their voice from time to time in a bid to save this 10 lakh odd Meiteis from being swallowed by the 100 odd crores mainland Indians.
Implementation of inner line permit (ILP) system has been the most vociferous demand in connection with saving Yelhoumee. Government of India has however dismissed the demand time and again perhaps on the ground that there is no logic in not allowing people from mainland India to freely mix and settle amongst a similar set of Indians called Meitei in Manipur. The logic may also be driven by the policy in the larger interest of nation building through complete Indianisation of Meiteis on a permanent basis.
Nevertheless with reference to Khasi Hills GoI has stated among others that Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act, 1873 is un-Constitutional and against the spirit of Article 19(d) and 19(e) of the Indian Constitution. The first relates to freedom to move freely throughout the territory of India and the other is the freedom to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India.
Government of India does not consider Meiteis as different from Mayangs from mainland India since the Indian Constitution does not spell out anything on the contrary. This brings to the point that GoI does not regard Meiteis as Yelhoumee necessitating Constitutional safeguard as normally provided to Yelhoumees.
Who then is Yelhoumee/ Indigenous People? There is no one set standard definition for indigenous people of the world, for what may be applicable in western countries may not be applicable in other countries. Thus such people are referred to as indigenous people in some countries and tribes in other countries. In India they are known as Anusuchit Janjati in Hindi and Scheduled Tribe in English.
In Bangladesh there are 29 Mangoloid ethnic communities officially identified by the government and inhabiting mainly in south-east Chittagong Hill Tracts region bordering Assam, Tripura and Mizoram. Landless Bengalee Bangladeshi people from the plains have been for long encroaching into their hill forests, their traditional abode for centuries perhaps with the tacit approval of the Bangladesh Government. These Mongoloid ethnic communities have therefore been demanding for recognition as indigenous people now for years. Bangladesh Government on the other hand as categorically termed them as ethnic minority and not indigenous people.
The argument of the Bangladesh Government is that these Mongoloid communities constitute just about 1.2 % of the total population of Bangladesh. Therefore the interest of majority 98.8% of the population is the national interest. Similar logic could well be applicable in the Indian context too with reference to Meiteis of Manipur.
It is for a country to decide as per its national policy as to which of its communities are indigenous and which are not. In this context India's tribal expert Virginius Xaxa in his "Tribes as Indigenous People of India" says, "The question of tribes in India is closely linked with administrative and political consideration. Hence there has been an increasing demand by groups and communities for their inclusion in the list of STs of the Indian Constitution". Further he goes on to say, "Indian anthropologists have been acutely aware of a certain lack of fit between what their discipline defines as tribes and what they are obliged to describe as tribes." Political overtone is clearly evident.
The draft Manipur People's Manifesto for the 16th Lok Sabha Election, drawn up on March 06, 2014 by civil societies of Manipur spearheaded by "Human Rights Alert" at Para 4 says, " In the light of India's Look East Policy manifesting itself with the opening up of the Trans-Asian Highways and Railways, signing of Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN, pushing for the border trade; appropriate legal and administrative safeguards should be provided to protect the rights of the indigenous population within the framework of the United Nation's Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples."
The pre-supposition that Meiteis are indigenous people is explicit in the draft manifesto. In like manner Meiteis may cry hoarse that they are indigenous people of Manipur and by extension India, and put forward demand after demand to provide Constitutional safeguard being provided to other indigenous people. Nobody in the corridors of power in Delhi is likely to listen to it since the Indian Constitution does not recognise Meiteis as indigenous people.
When a country does not regard a particular ethnic community of the country as indigenous people, there is no room for it to be recognised by the UN. That's it. Make no mistake. Meiteis are not indigenous people of Manipur.
* Lt Col Laishram Lokendra Singh(Retd) Singh wrote this article for Hueiyen Lanpao
This article was posted on May 05, 2014.
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