Manipur: United Naga Council condemns court's order for directing inclusion of Meitei in ST list

The United Naga Council (UNC) which is the apex Naga civil body has condemned the Manipur High Court order directing the state government to recommend the inclusion of Meitei/ Meetei community in the ST category.

In a statement, the UNC said that the Meitei community of Manipur is an advanced community of India with their Manipuri language (Meiteilon) listed in the Eight Schedule to the Constitution of India.

It further said that it is irrational that the High Court of Manipur directed the government of Manipur to recommend for inclusion of the Meitei/ Meetei community in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list of India, negating the sole objective of scheduling a group of people for protective discrimination as Scheduled Tribe in the Constitution of India.

''The Meiteis are already protected under the Constitution of India and categorized as General, Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Scheduled Caste (SC) within the existing Meitei Meetei community itself,'' the statement added.