Ethics of ethnic crisis in North East India An unchanging phenomenon in contemporary Manipur, its solutions
- Part 3 -

Dr Priyadarshni M Gangte *

Map of North East region, India :: Pix - TSE

It is established fact that since the past the numerous tribal groups living in Manipur had been under the administration of their respective customary laws. However, these often stand in the way of land reform. Of course, certain characteristics need to be restructured so as the Kuki Chiefs be only titular. He should initiate towards bringing education, healthcare, medicine, sanitation, electricity, food security, transport and communication and water (using as well as drinking) in his village as an imperative for becoming a welfare village.

To take initiative for harmonizing, the customary laws will be crucial in establishing a modern and scientific and land tenure system, thereby making way for conservation and sustainable forest and environment. Moreover, the absence of land registration or patta system in hill areas of Manipur has also adversely impacted people psyche without having any legal title or right to the land they are tilling or where they have been living for centuries or developing land.

For instance, in Kuki society, the Village Haosa (Chief) has often dislodged the defacto land owners from their settlement. As a result, the individual does not have a right or title to land, thereby the financial institutions, Banks are not willing to provide credit to them because they cannot provide security.

And, for that matter, let's have our heads put together in considering the forthcoming of AHI and the already much spoken about Look/Act East Policy – horrible picture of the State of Manipur in general and Moreh town in particular. No community, society, state and nation can achieve peace, stability and economic growth if at least half of the population is not empowered economically ab initio.

Thus, the institutions of Haosa (Chieftainship) should be retained instead of abolishing for it is pertinent to remember and know that since the inception of the Manipur Village Authority Act, 1956, tribals have been opposing to protect their cultural and traditional rights particularly the customary laws even till today can be noticed by their actions organized by the All tribal Chiefs Forum, Manipur (ATCF) and Committee on Protection of Tribal Areas, Manipur (COPTAM) are umbrella organizations.

The customary practice of land holding system in the hills particularly of that of Kuki, is also one of the important factors for its acute backwardness and also the cause of large scale migration of hill people to urban areas. As already cited above, the land system does not allow ownership of land by the common villagers as the entire land belongs to the village chief or community as a whole. If a proper assessment of land ownership in the hill areas of Manipur is carried out, around 70 percent of the hill dwellers woul actually turn out to be landless villagers.

Further, it will be relevant that the hill people who constitute around 41.1 percent of the total population and sparsely occupying around 90 percent of the total level surface surrounding the entire valley of the State are disgruntled lots. They may be possessive of their vast hilly terrains which are actually neither sustainable for basic livelihood nor setting up industry. The traditional methods of cultivation are also not very yielding owing to deforestation, environment degradation, unfavorable, geographical location, etc. Instead of developing the hill areas, the politicians, government servants and slightly well-off hill people are human on moving to the urban areas thus leaving the poorer people in the hills behind.

VII. Education: Education is the key to all-round developments has remained neglected for all the times. The provision of free and universal primary education to the children upto the age of 14 in the State is still a dream. Huge investments on education sector in order to facilitate for masses to get access to education with low cost and affordable is still an articulation of theory and paper work in the State. We all know that literacy has been identified as an important factor in individual emancipation. Indira Gandhi has emphatically maintained.

"Education is a liberating force, and in our age, it is also a democratizing force, cutting across the barriers of castes and class , smoothing inequalities imposed by birth and other circumstances".

Furthermore, as far as the education in Manipur is concerned, we need a structural change from the present Indian western education system because it is despite not world class as it is not character and man making education. This is the reason why it is failed in India. Educated ones have failed to create the systems to go with every aspects of life of everyone in this world.

Swami Vivekananda's philosophy of education also counters and challenges in the system by pointing out (i) lack of development of powers of concentration of mind and (ii) lack of holistic and long term vision i.e. lack of spirituality; because of two reasons (a) unabling mind for perfection, quality and excellence and (b) petty and narrow minded and the thoughts only of immediate gains instead of long term good.

It will be interesting to know what our constitutions Article 46 further instructs. Its embodies the concept of distributive justice, which connotes inter alia, the removal of economic inequalities and rectifying the justice resulting from dealings or transactions between unequal and in society. In accomplishing justice, so that the legs of the triangle be removed completely as the first virtue of social institutions as truth is of system of thought. A theory however, elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is unture, likewise law and institutions, no matter how efficient and well arranged must be removed or abolished if they are unture.

Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. However, Singh, contented that justice is generally divided into legal and social justices, legal justice concerns the punishment of wrongdoing and the compensation of inquiry through the creation and enforcement of a public set rules, whereas, social justice require equitable and just distribution of the social goods and evils or burden and benefits.

Likewise, Miller says: "Social justice concerns the distribution of benefits and burden throughout a society, as it results from major social institutions, property system, public organization, etc."

It is found contrary to the same as some of the government acts/laws so enacted from time to time which intend to deal with various issues confronting the so called Scheduled Tribe communities has always lacked its credibility and sincerity in addressing the real issues. In this situation we found that not the greater number of Scheduled Tribes from the hills have no chance to get the opportunity to get access to the different schemes meant for upliftment and advancement due to lack of information, illiteracy and bad economic condition.

Thus, they do not reach the rural and remote massed – the socio- economically deprived ones in the hills. Here, the government in its manifestation requires an extensive prior consultation and deliberation with the concerned persons primarily to be affected and benefited with the measures so that the outcome is placed into acts/laws for enforcement before implementation into action.

However, one striking fact is that in the course of time and emerged situation, and the tribal middle class emerged consequently followed by elite groups have begun to constitute the top class and cream of the tribal population contended by Lal Dena. At the same time, a host of theology oriented church leaders and the nouveau riche from among the business communities and contractors formed themselves into a powerful groups which cannot be easily reckoned with, resulting disparity between the elite and rural masses has also wider then before.

Proper education must be compulsory for every children. Education does not mean degree only. If means the transformation of mind in understanding issues at hand – the comely is facing. Education stabilizes roots of planning and achieving a sense of progress and development.

VIII Migrant Issue: The unabated inflow of migrants from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and neighbouring states and other parts of the country, perhaps due to invisible policies of the Government has made threats in every spheres of life of the indigenous people of the state. If the present trend of influx of migrants is not checked, the natural hospitality of the local people has become an advantage for the migrants who are now controlling market and some politics (indirect deciding factor).

Relating to this, it is pertinent to sense what is prevailing in our sister states. The presence of the indigenous people of Tripura is now a bygone memory. Despite several attempts made by Debbrama, Reang, Koloy, etc, are helpless to regain their past glory, instead, they are in fact under the mercy of migrants.

To be continued....