By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Jaiñtia NGOs Forum (JNF) has demanded the state government to immediately halt all surveys of the Census 2011 citing that the previous census reports has neglected the Jaintia tribes, one of the major tribes of Meghalaya.
The forum has also demanded the census to be re-conducted in the state of Meghalaya, whereby the Jaintias (Pnars, Bhois and Wars) Tribe should be included.
As per the findings, the JNF stated that according to the Census 2001, there is no Jaiñtia (Pnars, Bhois and Wars) Tribe in the state of Meghalaya. “The state of Meghalaya is a state which comprises of three major tribes the Jaiñtias, Garos and Khasis but according to the Census reports of the year 1991 and 2001 there are no Jaiñtias in the state of Meghalaya”, Chairman of JNF, T Lytep said.
Surprisingly there is only a Synteng tribe (the nickname of Jaiñtia tribe) and according to the 2001 Census in the state, there are only about 18,000 Syntengs.
“Such negligence and Malicious act in the party of the Central Government in conducting the Census is nothing but an attempt to marginalize the Jaintias (Pnar, Bhoi and War) in the state which is endangering the very existence and identity of the tribe”, Lytep stated.