Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru once delineated Manipur as the ‘Land of the Jewels’ in his memoirs. Geoffrey Evans and Anthony Brett James have also described it as ‘a flower in the lofty heights.’

Manipur was in great trouble during the early 1940s due to the impending Japanese invasion. Mr. C. Gimson, the then Political Agent of Manipur, toured about almost all parts of the hills of Manipur during the 1943-44 and went around listening to the grievances of the people upon which immediate relief was taken up by the Government to redress the woes.

During 1944, when the Japanese and INA forces invaded Manipur thousands of refugees from the hills came over to Imphal where the then Manipur Maharaja and Maharani splendidly fed them with foods, clothing and shelter in the refugee camps erected by them: This goes on until the invading forces were completely removed from the hills after which the hillmen joyfully returned to their villages with many thanks to the big hearted Maharaja and Maharani.

Similarly, when Manipur Raja faced some threats from his rival forces it was the hill strongmen who always came up for help and assistance, all voluntarily. When Manipur was to merge with Indian Union it was none but the Kuki hillmen who strongly opposed for the same, guarding the Konung Palace and insisting the Maharaja to abstain from pursuing his plan.

Even in festivals and during festivities both the parties were invited to join the other with great pomp and merry-making. The concepts like ‘haos’ and ‘Meilhei ehsan/ehtam’ are all historical misnomer which did not exist in reality.

It did not and cannot be a pretext for hatred or enmity as the above facts pointed out. This is how the hills and the valley meets not only physically but also emotionally too.

And that is the reason why nobody speaks about integrity simply because there is no need of them at all under such situation. In fact, this is what we have as a rich cultural heritage that the new generation must nurture them.

Geographically, the hills and valley complements to each other. The valley need water, rainfalls and climate moderator. The hills provided them generously. The hills need its excess products to be disposed off.

The valley absorbed all these. This also completes the economic inter-dependence between the two. The valley supplied rice, salt, vegetables, fishes, etc., to the hills. The hills in return supplied the valley firewood, timber, and other forest produces. This way the hill and valley co-operated peacefully without one wanting to arrogate the others possessions and expertise.

But when, why and how this mutually interdependent relationship got deteriorated, who is responsible for it and why the people followed them, are some pertinent queries which are quite difficult to comprehend. There is no one to be blame, everyone is equally responsible.

One may forego in telling us that the new democratic principles are responsible, other may blame history and history writing and still other may believe us that it is a natural course of human development. But it is asserted here that there is still no love lost between the valley and the hills but certainly there is some notional change during the past few years or so.

The notion I mean is a competition for control of resources. The injudicious use of natural resources has crunched our plentiful environments. What the valley thought yesteryears about the hills and the hillmen as a partners and ally have now drastically given way to as rival and competitors.

For the hillmen the valley people turned out to be intruders and so they must change themselves over as defenders and protectors of their possessions from being taken away. Both these notions certainly ate madness, a momentary social madness indeed.

This madness has blind us from seeking the truth and the real solution for the present imbroglios. It overpowered even the thinkers, policymakers, intellectuals and the public leaders, taking us into quite different wordily contest.

Such contested notion has brings about the downfall of what our forefathers have laid for us as a mutually dependent and friendly allies who acted voluntarily whenever the other was in danger. Gone are those happy days.

The new Government has become quite irresponsible and their ivory towers are inaccessible for the common men. Had there been another Gimson for the hillmen and another bravehearted Maharaja occupying the CM seat at Imphal the sufferings of the hill people would have been easily mitigated.

I am especially referring to the sufferings of the innocent villagers in the Khengjoi areas, which is likely to become as a mascot and reminder for the future relationship between the hills and the valley.

I am wondering why the media are completely silent over the issues so that the public are kept in dark about the sufferings of the hapless people. How can we let the sufferings of thousands of helpless people unnoticed?

I think we have forgotten our obligations already laid by our forefathers. I recalled the heyday of the Maharaja and Maharani of Manipur when the hillmen were taken care of during difficult time.

Are we less compassionate to our forbearers? This apparently more civilized generation must realize the value and meanings of such gestures and imbibed them accordingly.

Otherwise we will be blamed for being indebted to our forefathers in many ways and pay heavily for the coming generations; Let’s not commit another mistake in believing another paradox.

If we talk about integrity this is what we are actually talking about. Unless there is any emotional integrity there cannot be any integrity in real sense.

History has hold that whenever a country is in nervous and confused situation social and emotional integration of the people need be given more emphasis in order to sustain the complex social fabric. But it seems apparent that we did the opposite.

Let us not give an artificial death to the still cohering love between the hills and the valley. One should be reminded that the solution for the present problems rest in the judicious use of our scarce resources for sustainable growth; not competing to control them.

Should we not let the ‘land of the jewels’ and the ‘flowers in the lofty heights’ to bloom with globalization and should we not enliven the not-yet-Love-Lost between the two mutually trusted saints: hills and valley?

The choice is with us, the confused generation.