Amplifying discontent

Absence of a good census allows politicians to exploit aspirations, hopes, sentiments, language traditions and social identities of people in Manipur

- GANESH N DEVY AND NIPUNI K MAO

THERE IS no doubt that the human tragedy and social turmoil that Manipur faces in recent weeks is because of divisive politics. But the confusion of descriptive ethnographic terms, insufficient data on the origin of various communities and a lack of scientific census are also the elements that have contributed to the crisis.

The recent violent clashes and bloodshed arose out of the high court decision allowing the Manipur government to take forward the demand of Meitei community for a Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. This demand and the vociferous opposition to it by groups already designated as STs-has much to do with the hill-valley divide in the state and the confusion around who these Meitei communities are.

Meitei or Meiteyi is a term popularly used to describe the residents of Manipur. The language primarily spoken in the state is Manipuri, which is the official language of the state and is one of the Scheduled languages, recognised by the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India. But the language is also spoken outside Manipur-in other northeastern states, such as Assam, Tripura and West Bengal, and in neighbouring countries like Myanmar and Bangladesh. This synonymy creates the impression that all Manipuri-speaking communities are Meitei.