Bishnupriya Manipuris demand satellite autonomous council

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Various Bishnupriya Manipuri organizations have reiterated their demand for a Bishnupriya Manipuri Territorial Council.

The bodies demanded that an autonomous council in the satellite system - Bishnupriya Manipuri Autonomous Council – should be established in Assam, Manipur and Tripura in the Bishnupriya Manipuri-dominated localities. They also urged the government to grant ST (Schedule Tribe)-Plain status and include the Bishnupriya Manipuri language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution of India.

Talking to the media here on Monday, Bishnupriya Manipuri Territorial Council Demand Committee (BMTCDC) Chief Executive Member and writer BidhanSinha said that despite having a rich cultural heritage, their ethnic identity is in danger.

Sinha said that in the 1940s, the British government in the Assam Franchise Committee proposed to categorize the community under ST category. After independence, the Government of India recognized the Bishnupriya Manipuri as a separate mother tongue in its various reports, mostly the Linguistic Minority Commission under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, he pointed out. "The Tripura government has categorized and placed the Bishnupriya Manipuri language under the Tribal Language Cell of the State Council of Educational Research and Training, while in Assam they are considered among Other Backward Classes (OBC), whereas in Manipur from where these people originated remains status-less," Sinha said.

"Both in the LokSabha and the Rajya Sabha under Article 80 of the Constitution, at least one member can be nominated by the President to the Upper House amongst the BishnupriyaManipuris," stressed Sinha. Earlier in the morning Sinha and other members of the organizations staged a sit-in demonstration at Chachal near the VIP Road in support of the same demands.

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