Committee set up to remove Christian Kuki community from Scheduled Tribes (ST) category in Manipur

Kuki community protests the inclusion of the Hindu Meitei community in ST

(Photo Credits: PGurus)

Imphal (Manipur) – The Court’s ruling to include the Hindu Meitei community in Manipur as a Scheduled Tribe is being opposed by the Christian Kuki community. This has led to violence in the State for the past several months, in which, more than 180 people have died so far. Now the BJP Government in the State is planning to delist the Kuki community from the Scheduled Tribes category. After the Union Government asked the State Government to consider removing the Kuki community from this, the State Government has set up a committee in this regard. Regarding this, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that the committee will decide on the proposal to remove the Kuki community from Scheduled Tribes in the State.

According to the Constitution, caste-based reservation is given to Hindus. This committee will investigate how reservation was given to Christian Kukis. If the committee recommends the removal of the Kuki community from Scheduled Tribes, the Union Government will have to consider it. The Kuki community will be removed from this list only after the approval of the Union Government. If the committee concludes that the Kuki community should continue to remain on the list, the Union Government will decide on that too.

Hindu Meitei community comprises 53% of Manipur’s population, while 40% of the population comprises of Naga and Kuki communities.