Flexing the muscle at wrong timing
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: October 19, 2013 -

To talk of love, unity and brotherhood among the people in this politically charged atmosphere where mutual distrust, suspicion and hatred have become the only language known and understood by all may sound out of place today.

But the significance of the arrival of full moon day of Mera and its celebration as Mera Hou Chongba is something that could not and should not be overlooked by anyone who calls Manipur as their mother land.

As one of the students who participated in our weekly essay competition has pointed out, Mera Hou Chongba is indeed the only festival celebrated in Manipur where people from the hills and the valley come together as one and join in the festivities, thus, reaffirming their blood relation and brotherly ties that have been overshadowed by sectoral politics and narrow outlook.

Its heartening to know that despite the changes that have been brought about with the passage of time and the attempts made from some quarters to inject venom into the hearts and minds of the people, the annual Mera Hou Chongba celebration has withstood the test of time on the inalienable bonding that has existed between the hill and the valley people of Manipur.

So, the celebration of Mera Hou Chongba should not be looked upon just a symbolic representation of the fraternal relationship and the umbilical cord that ties together the hill and the valley people. It is much more than something which could be described or put in words.

In such a situation, it is disheartening to learn that the State administration, apart from not extending any sort of assistance towards the efforts being made to revive and smoothen the strained relationship between two brothers from the hills and the valley all these years, has even stood on the way of performing the rites and rituals associated to celebration of Mera Hou Chongba inside the sacred Kangla.

The refusal of the State administration to grant permission for entering Kangla through the western gate as per tradition for performing the rites and rituals for the welfare of the State and its people and the insistence on entry through the southern gate, which is unthinkable as it is considered to be the gate of the death, would only send out a wrong message.

Even if there is such a regulation in place for entry inside Kangla, why this could not be relaxed for an important occasion like Mera Hou Chongba festival, which comes only once in a year bringing the long departed brothers from the hills and the valley together?

In fact, we feel that it is an issue, too minor, to be meddled in by the State administration. Even if it wants to show its power, Mera Hou Chongba is not the right occasion for the State administration to flex its muscle.

After this ugly episode, we are sure that even the most skeptics who have questioned the objection raised against the move of the State administration to take over Sana Konung (Royal Palace) for developmental into a historical monument may have been convinced why the people cried hoarse against the take over. Period.