SUMMARY
The Meitei (alternatively Meetei, Meithei, or Manipuri) is an ethnic group that primarily resides in India’s northeastern Manipur state. The group comprises around 50 percent of Manipur’s total population. Unlike many ethnic groups in Northeast India, the Meitei are not recognized as an “indigenous” Scheduled Tribe, but is regarded as a “non-tribal” group; this means that the Meitei do not enjoy special protection in the Indian constitution. In Manipur, the Meitei mainly inhabit the plains of the Imphal valley, which consists of the Imphal, Thoubal, and Bishnupur districts, where they live intermingled with another ethnic group, the Pangal (also a non-tribal group), while tribal groups, such as the Naga and Kuki, reside in the hill districts surrounding the Imphal valley. Manipur, much like the rest of Northeast India, has had a history of demographic stress and ethnic conflict caused by migration from other parts of India, and from Bangladesh. Much of the intergroup conflict can be derived from tensions between the tribal and non-tribal communities, as the former perceives the latter as “immigrants” intruding on their ancestral land. However, there have also been tensions within both the tribal and non-tribal communities.
Despite being denied indigenous Scheduled Tribe status in the Indian constitution, the Meitei have inhabited Manipur’s valley districts since ancient times. The group is generally believed to be the descendants of various smaller tribes that merged many centuries ago. Before the British colonization of the region, the Meitei maintained an independent kingdom in Manipur. The Meitei are predominately Hindu, and adhere to the Vaishnavism tradition; some Meitei also follow the traditional religion Sanamahi. This sets the group apart from the Muslim Pangal, and the largely Christian tribal population. However, the Meitei have since the 16th and 17th centuries been highly integrated with the Pangal group, which has adopted Meitei social customs and traditions, as well as the Meitei language Meiteilon (“Manipuri”). In fact, the Pangal are sometimes regarded as a subgroup of the Meitei. Nevertheless, the old caste system employed in Manipur has favored the Meitei over the Pangal.
The Meitei, while being historically favored socially and politically by the merit of being Manipur’s dominant ethnic group, have developed grievances against the Indian government. The most dominant issue has been the perceived loss of autonomy after India’s independence in 1947, and perception that the Indian authorities have favored the recognized tribal groups in the state. Within Manipur, the Meitei have also been aggrieved by the increase in Muslim migrants settling in the state. However, before the communal violence of 1993, Hindu Meitei and the Muslim Pangal had enjoyed a far more peaceful coexistence than Hindus and Muslims elsewhere in India; large-scale religious violence had been completely absent. A general trend in Manipur is that ethnic relations have deteriorated as particularistic political aspirations of the various groups have increased.
There have also been several armed rebel groups claiming to represent the Meitei, such as KCP, PLA, PREPAK, and UNLF. These groups have fought a separatist conflict for an independent Manipur against the Government of India since the 1970s (for more on this, see India: Manipur.
