Imphal: Maharaja Leishemba Sanajaoba, BJP Member of Parliament (MP) from Manipur in the Rajya Sabha and the state’s king, raised a matter of urgent public importance in the upper house of Parliament on Tuesday. He appealed to the Government of India to officially recognize Sanamahi as a separate religion in the national census.
Drawing the attention of the House, the king urged the government to issue clear instructions to census officials to include Sanamahi as a separate religion.
Sanamahi/Sanamahiism is a polytheistic and animistic religion of the Meitei people of Manipur. It is also known as Meiteism, Lainingthouism, or Sanamahi Dharma. Sanamahiism is an ancient religion, older than Hinduism and Vaishnavism. The religion is named after the deity Lainingthou, the Sanamahi deity, one of the most important deities of the Meitei religion.
The BJP MP lamented that the lack of a separate enumeration code for Sanamahi has misrepresented and undermined the identity of its followers, despite repeated appeals from scholars, CSOs, and religious authorities, including the Lainingthou Sanamahi Temple Board, Uttara Shanglen, and Sanakonung.
Sanajaoba said that the Manipur Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on August 5, 2022, requesting the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India to include Sanamahi as a separate religious category. This resolution reflects the long-held sentiments of the Meitei/Meitei community, for whom Sanamahi is an ancient indigenous religion with distinct customs, practices, and cultural heritage.
They expressed concern that thousands of people follow the Sanamahi religion but do not have a proper category to register their religion in the census schedule.
They concluded that recognizing Sanamahi as a distinct religion would ensure accurate demographic representation, protect cultural heritage, and uphold the constitutional principles of religious freedom and identity.
