The World Meetei Council (WMC) on Monday wrote an open letter to Chief Minister N Biren Singh with a fervent appeal to send the two reports for inclusion of Meetei in the ST list to the Centre by August before the juggernaut of Delimitation 2026 decimates the Meetei identity.
WMC held a two-day meeting during which the council resolved to submit the letter to the Chief Minister, said WMC chairman Heigrujam Nabashyam, in the letter.
It highlighted several points including the delimitation of the Assembly and Parliamentary seats of all the states and Union Territories which is scheduled to take place in 2026. It also said that the present Manipur Assembly has 40 seats in the valley and 20 seats in the hills, based on the 1971 census report.
It mentioned that according to the 1971 census, 69 percent of Manipur's population resided in the valley, while the remaining 31 percent lived in the hills. Though the census does not provide community-wise population figures, various indices suggest that the Meetei population comprised approximately 60 percent of the total population of Manipur in the 1971 census report, it added.
It further noted that the census is conducted every ten years, however there was no census in 2021 due to COVID-19. It maintained that according to the 2011 census, the Meetei population consisted of approximately 44 percent, indicating a sharp decline from the 1971 census, with reasons being a low birth rate among the Meetei and unchecked heavy influx of migrants, especially from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
It went on to say that the Meetei community adhered to the National Population Policy of ‘Small Family, Happy Family’. The paradox is that delimitation is set to penalize those who dutifully followed the National Policy and reward those who have not and the 2026 delimitation is poised to victimize the Meetei for being lawful and obedient citizens, posing a threat to our identity, it asserted.
It stated that enlisting Meetei in the ST list of the Indian constitution is the only one way to protect our identity. It mentioned the current violence perpetrated by Chin-Kuki terrorists and lamented over the alleged failure of the Prime Minister to stop the Chin-Kuki perpetrators and said that it is a great injustice. The issue should not be an excuse or a pretext for not sending the two reports because this is a question of survival for the Meetei identity, it stated.
It reiterated its appeal to Chief Minister N Biren Singh to send the two needed reports, considering the precarious condition of the Meetei population, before the deadline. Should the CM fail to do the same, the people will be left with no other option but to request all the legislators of Manipur to elect someone who can do it to save our future, it added.
