Meitei community after 1947
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Meitei community
A backgrounder
Esha Roy, May 12, 2023: The Indian Express
Much of the Meitei insurgency is rooted in its history, and is replete with echoes of re-establishing the glory of the ancient Manipur kingdom. The loss of identity, and the struggle to restore it, remains at the heart of the Meitei movement, and is foundational in Manipuri society.
The origin story
The Cheitharol Kumbaba, royal chronicles of Manipur that are the primary source of information on its early rulers, trace the origin of the Meitei kingdom of Kangleipak to 33 AD. The Meiteis are divided into seven Salai or clans — Mangang, Luwang, Khuman, Angom, Moirang Kha, Ngangba, and Sarang Leishangthem. An unbroken line of kings of the Ningthouja dynasty, belonging to the Mangang clan, ruled until 1955, and Pakhamba, the serpent king from whom the dynasty claimed descent, remains the presiding deity of Manipur and symbols of Pakhamba — a snake with its tail in its mouth — are seen all over the Imphal valley, in offices, homes, temples, restaurants, and the palace.
Imphal-based historians have contended that the Kangleipak lands extended beyond the Imphal valley — comprising the five present-day districts of Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal, Bishnupur, and Kakching — but the tribes of the hill districts have contended they were always independent entities.
Arrival of Hinduism
The Hindu religion first appeared in Manipur in the late 15th century. The Maharaja of Manipur was gifted an idol of Vishnu on Garuda, which he installed in a temple in Bishnupur. The idol no longer exists, but the name it gave the district persists. Author and former IAS officer Dr R K Nimai said Vaishnavism took root in Manipur in phases, as Bengali Hindu monks and laity fleeing persecution under the sultans of Bengal came to Manipur, built temples, and became integrated into Manipuri society.
In the early 18th century, the Meitei king Pamheiba made Hinduism the kingdom’s official religion, leading to the gradual decline of the ethnic polytheistic Sanamahi religion. The king also encouraged the use of the Bengali script, and ordered the Sanamahi scripture Puyas written in it.
As assimilation progressed, the Manipuri Goddess Panthoibi became Durga, and aspects of the ancient festival and dance Lai Haraoba were incorporated into Manipur’s famous Ras Lila.
Caste in Manipur
With Hinduism came caste and, over time, three broad categories emerged.
There were the Bahmons (Brahmans) many of whom are believed to be outsiders who settled in Manipur and married local women. Bahmons could be priests who performed rituals, or cooks who produced meals during Meitei festivals and ritual feasts.
The Kshatriyas were converts to Hinduism, who took the surname Singh. Both Chief Minister N Biren Singh and his predecessor Okram Ibobi Singh of the Congress are Kshatriyas.
Those who continued to follow the pre-organised religion practices of ancestor worship became the Scheduled Castes. They live mainly in Andro in Imphal East and Sekmai and Phayeng in Imphal West, and are traditional brewers of local rice wine.
Then there are the “RKs” — Rajkumars and Rajkumaris — who are part of Manipur’s original nobility and claim to be direct descendants of Pakhamba.
History of war
During the “Seven Years Devastation” from 1819 to 1826, forces of the Burmese kingdom occupied Manipur, and king Marjit Singh fled to Cachar. After the first Anglo-Burmese war, Gambhir Singh was installed as Maharaja, and a British political agent was posted in the kingdom.
During a period of internal rivalry, the British sided with Maharaja Surachandra Singh in a tussle with Crown Prince Kullachandra, who was backed by the powerful general Tikendrajit Singh. After Tikendrajit was taken into custody, another army official, General Thangal, entered the battle.
On August 13, 1891, the British hanged both. Bir Tikendrajit Memorial or Shaheed Minar now stands in the heart of Imphal, and Patriots Day is observed on August 13 every year. Incidentally, the most powerful insurgent group in Manipur, the Meitei United National Liberation Front (UNLF), is led by a descendant of Tikendrajit, R K Meghen, who is known as Sanayaima or ‘Golden Son’.
Attempts at revival
Over the years, there have been attempts to restore the Meitei community’s original history, including Sanamahism and the Meitei Mayek script. While Vaishnavism has largely retained its hold on the Meitei people, the story of the script has unfolded differently.
Nimai, the retired IAS officer, recalled that in the 1860-70s, the British political agent, G A Damant, introduced the teaching of the Meitei Mayek script in Manipur’s schools. “The Manipuri elite at the time had studied in Kolkata, Dhaka, and Sylhet, and they lobbied for the Bengali script instead,” Nimai said.
In the 1930s, a campaign began for both the revival of Sanamahism and Meitei Mayek. It took until 1992 for the Manipuri language to be included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. In 2005, Meitei Mayek was introduced in schools and universities, and road signs in the Imphal valley were changed from the Bengali script. Manipuri language newspapers, however, continue to be published in the Bengali script.
Complex faultlines
Much of the Meitei insurgency is rooted in its history, and is replete with echoes of re-establishing the glory of the ancient Manipur kingdom. The loss of identity, and the struggle to restore it, remains at the heart of the Meitei movement, and is foundational in Manipuri society.
Many Manipuris believe that Maharaja Bodhachandra was forced to sign the merger agreement under duress. Once the Naga tribes had launched their own movement for secession, reimagining the region’s geography as part of a Greater Nagalim, the Manipuri insurgent groups were fighting both against the Indian state, as well as the Naga insurgent groups. The conflict intensified as the Kuki-Zomi tribes set up their own armed groups to fight the Nagas. The Kuki demand for a homeland drove a wedge between the traditional allies, Meiteis and the Kukis. The Kukis served as a buffer between the kingdom and the Nagas, and Maharaja Bodhachandra travelled with four Kuki bodyguards.
In recent decades, the ethnic divide has widened further as the tribes have accused the majority Meiteis of grabbing an unfair share of the state’s finances and development. The Meiteis have in turn, accused the government of allowing undue advantage to the tribes by protecting their lands and giving them reservation in jobs.
The recent Kuki-Meitei ethnic clashes — the first in three decades — have reopened old wounds. The Meiteis are reminded that they cannot access one of their most sacred sites, Mount Koubru, which is dominated by Kukis who allegedly cultivate poppy on the slopes of the mountain. An Meitei academic based in Imphal argued that the Meitei demand for ST status was more to press for the principle of equality than to actually buy tribal land. “A Meitei will never settle in the hills, because that landscape is not part of our culture. Meitei people live near water, and most of our ritual practices are water-based… The tribal is a hunter and is comfortable in the forest; the Meitei is a fisherman,” the academic said.
Legally, is the Meitei community a tribe?
Whether Meiteis of Manipur meet the Constitutional criteria for ST status
By Sira Kharay
The views expressed in this article are strictly those of the author
What is a Scheduled Tribe?
Post independent India has so far notified ten Presidential Orders under Article 342(1) of the Constitution. The first Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 was notified based on the list of depressed classes framed by Dr. J.H. Hutton in his Census Report 1931. The list of Scheduled Tribes in the State of Manipur was first notified through the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) (Part C States) Order, 1951. There are at present 34 lists of Scheduled Tribes in the State of Manipur and more than 700 Scheduled Tribes in all of India.
Constitutional Criteria for Recognition as Scheduled Tribes : The term “Scheduled Tribe” is a constitutional fiction for the purpose of identifying a group as a separate social class with reference to social, economic, political and cultural obligations imposed by the Constitution. Article 366 (25) defines it as such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes. Under Article 342(1), the President may with respect to any State or Union Territory, and where it is a State after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to that State or Union Territory.
It is significant that the Constitution itself has not defined the term “tribe” or “tribal community” though it is clear from the expression “such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities” that for a community in order to be qualified for recognition as a Scheduled Tribe has to be first a “tribe” or a “tribal community”. However, as per the settled criteria based on the 1931 Census, the Kalelkar Report 1955, the Lokur Committee Report 1965 and the Chanda Committee Report 1967, a tribal community for recognition under Article 342(1) must cumulatively possess the following characteristics, namely - Indications of primitive traits; geographical isolation and habitation in remote or less accessible areas; distinctive culture; shyness of contact with the community at large; and general backwardness in all respects.
It implies a nomadic descent, with distinct customary code of conduct, mode of worship and cultural ethos, shaped in accordance with the given traditional moorings and customary beliefs and practices, and generally inhabiting hilly or intractable regions or forests, which results in seclusion from the mainstream of national life leading to severe historical deprivation thereto.
The Meiteis: historically the ruling “caste”
In stark contrast, Meiteis constitute 75% of the total population of Manipur and being the dominant majority, there is conscious historical process of marginalization of ethnic minorities in the State. Historically, Meiteis constitute the ruling “caste” and the hill tribals are considered as social and cultural outcastes. Their socio-economic and political dominance within this casteist-conceived hierarchy is complete and prevailing in short.
As per the Central List of OBCs for the State of Manipur, 1995, the Meitei Pangals, Meiteis and Meeteis, including Meitei Brahmins, Meitei/Meetei Sanamahis and Rajkumars are recognized as OBCs and the aspect of job creation, social and educational advancement, if any, is sufficiently taken care of by this conferment. Admittedly, it would be altogether a different case if the history of Manipur was so drawn that practically no scope for one community leaving the other deprived could be made out as in the case of Nagaland. However, we cannot wish away the opposite historical reality in the State of Manipur.
Legal Nuances
Legal Nuances : Notification under Article 342(1) should not be presumed as a random recitation of presidential discretion without any set of Constitutional principles, much less as a promiscuous mistress whose magical charm could be invoked or renounced anytime. The assumption that the status can be a subject of free adoption or renunciation at the fanciful choice of any community is an absolute misconception. The conferment of Scheduled Tribe status under Article 342(1) is not merely an administrative action, but it involves scientific process with elaborate enquiries into the stock of materials, including sociological, anthropological and ethnological enquiries and is thereafter issued in due consultation with the Governor of the concerned State. Thus, the Supreme Court of India has repeatedly held that notifications issued under Article 342(1) are final and conclusive and it is not permissible even for the Courts to make any addition thereto or subtraction therefrom.
Specification of Scheduled Tribes under Article 342(1) can only be made necessarily with reference to a particular locality, State or Union Territory and not on all India basis and there cannot be a list of All India Scheduled Tribe. Consequently, a Dhobi in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh may be a Scheduled Caste, but not necessarily so in Andhra Pradesh and Namasudras in Andhra Pradesh cannot be declared a Scheduled Caste just because they are in West Bengal. For the same reason, Kolis in Maharashtra do not become a Scheduled Tribe just because they have a cultural affinity with the Scheduled Tribe Mahadeo Kolis.
See also
The Meitei Language and Grammar
The Meitei: Traditional economy
The Meiteis Habitat, Appearance
