It is time to think and strive seriously for a progressive Pan-Mongoloid movement. We can call it any name acceptable to all of us. Although, I don't have any objection whether you call it Naga, Mizo or Manipuri. But it should be very clear to all of us that we belong to and are as much a part of this people.
There is no question arise of joining this people through anybody. Rather, the truth is that we are born in this people. We should not be confused ourselves and play politics in the selective nomenclatures given by outsiders who might have their own agenda without caring for the people of this land and there is no need to rely specifically and solely on such literatures, better we should research with our own eyes and mind.
With deep respect, Th. Muivah must understand and respect in spirit and letter the theme 'ichin in-nao oei-ba kai-na-han gum-si'. His mother tongue has the same word 'ichin in-nao' with the same meaning i.e., brother and sisterly relation. Ichin in-nao is not something artificial construction but related by blood. He should not betray the groups working for unity and justice for the people.
Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram are the three states which could initiate such a movement as they have the most conducive environment. And if we can have Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram movement, why not of it?
It will be in the best interest and security of all of us to handle the dynamics of such movement in terms of progressive and altruistic principle rather than based on inter-communities, inter-tribals and ethnic rivalry and on the question of territorial demarcation.
Let the question of territories remained as it exists today.
The different communities inhabiting this region have many similarities so to speak in term of culture. They have major common meanings of life and world. All the languages spoken by these communities belong to the same family (it is being popularly called as Tibeto-Burman) and exhibit a similarity of more or less 50 to 60 percentages in terms of common vocabulary.
Despite this, the variety must have been due to the lack of frequent intercourse and intercommunication over a long period of time. Subsequently, every community develops in the course of time different twist in their pronunciation but the grammatical form of the languages remained the same.
With an open and cool mind, we must resolve our differences amicably among ourselves before thinking of it with others and by rejecting anything which will divide us politically. Politically, we should yearn for a single entity as it will serve our best interest and common welfare in the long run. If a group has to strive for political power i.e., the mandate of the people, let it be in the realm of this collectivity and a progressive democratic discourse.
We should seriously think and work for a history which must incorporate the different communities in equal term without any hierarchy and dominancy. The Meiteis should know the different narratives of the brethren's communities and vice-versa and all should know the distinctive indissoluble brotherly relation and undisputable similarity since the dawn of our existence.
For instance, we can talk about our modern history with the name of the great legendary figures of Phizo, Laldenga, Rani Gaiduilui, Jadonang, Tikendrajit, Thangal General, Paona Brajabashi, Irabot and so on.
Our common culture which lies dormant should be dug out rather than digging differences and enmity for political vendetta. Our political management of scarce resources must be very transparent with a justiceable distribution with all having a constant and untiring watch to weed out the corruption in the process.
Most importantly, let us be very clear to ourselves that anybody who tries to divide the people for short-term political gain should not be forgiven. Such ill-conceived agenda will only weaken us and lead us to our collective perils rather than empowering all.
'An inhabitant' - a pesudonym used by Nongnallakpa Horam writes regularly for e-pao.net .
He can be reached at [email protected]
This article was webcasted on Feb 17th, 2005
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