Conflict resolution in respect of Manipur
- Part 2 -

Dr AK Chishti *

The State of Manipur is handed over to your Highness", and consequent upon this the Manipur State Constitution Act 1947 was already proclaimed. His Highness was also the Head of the Council of Ministers. However, failure on his part to control the situation was a clear message of his weakness that the young and ambitious politicians became more active in their attempt to oust the King and enthrone themselves with the help of Nehru Government with that they had political clout already.

The AICC also had already declared the policy in open in 1945 with respect to the question of cessation that no Indian States would be allowed to cede from the newly independent country and if any one tries to do so will be treated as enemy sounding that force will be used. This was very much in contrast with what Jawaharlal Nehru declared in the Parliament that integration of States with the Union of India was not at the level of the Government, it was at the level of the people.

The commitment given to the States was never honoured. Such a carrot and stick approach of the Union Government could not be understood by the people at that time not only of Manipur but also of other States. They rather believe the words of Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru who led the Nation and laid the foundation of a strong democratic nation as the holy words.

Merger of Manipur on the 21st Sept. 1949 at Shillong and a hectic strategy of negotiation between the officials and Budhachandra Singh, without the due approval and the backing of his subject as it should have been done in a democratic manner, could never be justified and accepted by any standard that the sense of betrayal is still in the psyche of those witnesses still alive and the children left behind by the departed ones.

The event will always remain as a jeremiad for the people of Manipur. The genesis of all conflicts in the State today surely lies buried in this act of infamous Agreement of Manipur's merger with India in 1949 at Shillong, a venue outside the State in a pre-planned manner. The then leaders of India, the Maharajah of Manipur and the politicians who fought for the merger are now no more alive to rue the Agreement act.

Perhaps all those involved in shaping the event never anticipated that the state of affairs in which a cause produces an effect which itself produces the original cause and so on. The growth and development of the frustrated feeling and sentiment since then was taking place underneath as a tuber does in nature. It is now seen in the set of symptoms that have appeared after the Merger that we will discuss under the Post-Merger Period of the history.

Post-Merger Period

Whether the hope and aspirations of the freedom loving people of Manipur was taken care of by Delhi and those who have been running the show with their help to the extent necessary to assuage the deeply wounded feeling of the desperate people, is naturally the first question to discuss in the moving scenario after the Merger.

To put the record straight

After the Merger Agreement was signed on the 21st Sept. 1949, Shri Budhachandra Singh to mark the event of the Merger and also handing over the charge of the State's administration, hoisted the tricolour Indian Flag at the thinly attended public ceremony held on 15-10-1949 at Imphal Pologround and also took the salute. The function was attended by Major General Rawal Amar Singh, former Dewan, and some officials attached to H.H.

In the announcement made as per an order issued by the Ministry of State, New Delhi dated 15-10-1949, Major General Amar Singh was declared appointed as the 1st Chief Commissioner of Manipur, now a small border state with the putting of a Chief Commissioner to command over it. By another notification issued on the same day, the Chief Commissioner issued an order called the Manipur Administrative Order 1949 in the Gazettes of India – according to that the Ministers of Manipur State ceased to function and the legislature stood dissolved.

In a dramatic turn of event, Shri Rawal Amar Singh the 1st Chief Commissioner of Manipur suddenly left the State on 18th instant after 3 days in the office. His departure was said to be connected with a serious complaint lodge with the Governor of Assam by Shri Budhachandra Singh formerly Maharajah of Manipur over the unbecoming behaviour shown to him on the next day of his assumption of office.

In response to an invitation Shri Budhachandra Singh accompanied by his former P.S. and ADC went to Mr. Rawal Amar Singh at the Commissioner's Bungalow at the appointed time. However, surprisingly the Commissioner was not found in his office, Shri Budhachandra who was the king of Manipur before he handed over the charge felt insulted by Mr. Amar Singh. When Mr. Amar Singh came to Shri Budhachandra Singh's residence the later was so angry and passed the serious remarks "Mr. Amar Singh should understand that one's life is nothing; only a shot is enough to finish it". This was the beginning of an open conflict after Merger.

Manipur's political History after Merger with India is a tale of series of set-backs. The kingdom was independent before the Merger – though the people remained the same. What is this that the State is now called the Chief Commissioner's Province of Manipur w.e.f. the 23rd January 1950 with the issue of an order signed by the Governor General, Shri C. Rajagopalachari? Then it was made the part "C" State – next an Union Territory before it attained the Statehood in 1972 through a long struggle.

Where is the Merger Agreement? Are all these things in line with the Agreement? What will support these series of unpopular actions of the Centre? It has indeed been a shoddy treatment to the freedom loving people of this land who expected to share democratic value while joining the country destined to be called the greatest democracy on earth.

The Centre was not supposed to forget the fact that the small kingdom before Merger had its own Constitution and the Constituent Assembly under the Manipur State Constitution Act, 1947 and the status of the State should have been respected.

The Centre was supposed to be more concerned with the genuine and legitimate interest and demands of the people of Manipur a newly joined member. The Merger Agreement is a living testimony in that the interest of both the State of Manipur as well as of the Dominion of India was the main consideration for the Merger. In reality it worked in a different direction.

It is now sufficiently clear that the country's interest alone is served by this integration. The State's interest is not at all bothered; who needed whom is now clear. The Post Merger Scenario speaks volume. We often tend to think that if the mountain range or the terrain in the East with thick jungles did not exist as an impenetrable border fence or boundary of the State, the country would have never thought of integrating the State with it or in other words the 1949 Merger Agreement would not have been effected.

It was after seeing the efficacy of this terrain during the IInd World War when the terrain served as the Great Wall of China for the British Forces in Manipur, the idea of annexing Manipur ticked in the mind of the Nation's leaders before India attained Independence.

The Centre was also supposed to be more tactful in dealing with the newly joined member, a kingdom like Manipur with different traditions and customs. In this context we wish to recall the spirit of the Article VIII(C) of the Agreement that specifically maintained that the Government of India undertake to preserve various laws, customs and conventions prevailing in the State pertaining to the Social, Economic and Religious life of the people.

It is still the living memory that the approach of the Britishers who occupied Manipur in 1891 after the Khongjom War and left in 1947 after 56 years was quite in contrast. It will always be remembered as Good Old Days in the history of Manipur. It was commendable in so far as its relation with the people of Manipur, as its respects and regard for the religion, customs and conventions and in so far as its kind of administration, run in co-ordination with the State Durbar.

There was no anti-incumbency feeling in the heart of people in spite of the fact that the Anglo-Manipuri War or Khongjom War took place and we lost in that. It is also true that there was no violence of any sort in the kingdom with different communities and tribes speaking different dialects as described earlier or there was no threat to the kingdom's territorial integrity from any quarters within or outside, either. People of the time loved them and praised them and still many who saw them remember for the Britisher's possession of great political and social acumen in that chapter of Manipur's history.

Chronicling the events in the Post-Merger chapter of one and a half decade's short account was already given in the foregoing para. After Manipur's attaining Statehood in 1972 till date – 3 decades and a half's scene can be described as the worst scene we have ever experienced in our lifetime. All man-made miseries for the poor people of this former kingdom have come in chain to create the hell-like situation. Number one problem is the Law and Order problem with no sign of relief.

The murderous situation is in fact the result of the ever increasing rise of insurgency with arms for the restoration of Sovereignty and to suppress it, Army's using of maximum force. As this has been the practice to use force to solve the Law and Order problem, the people sandwiched between the two forces with no means of defending themselves are the ultimate victims of both the operations.

To be continued...