Irawat the Legend
- Part 1 -
Joyshree Usham *
117th Birth Anniversary of Lamyanba Hijam Irabot on September 30 2013 :: Pix - Deepak Oinam
"Beyond the hills of Ang-go,
On the outskirts of the twin village
Tangbo and Shwedo
There stands a memorial stone,
And on it eternally inscribed,
COMRADE I. SINGH
DIED ON 26TH SEPT. 1951"
The above excerpt is from the Freedom Fighters Records in the Manipur State
Archives, Govt of Manipur, 1986. Yes, our beloved leader, the Son of the Soil, Hijam
Irawat Singh, has left us a long long time ago but his legend has continued to
inspire and mesmerise us even today. I am reminded of him in the midst of the
present social turmoil of Manipur: a clear indication of the lack of a true and selfless
leader like him.
Hijam Irawat Singh was born to Hijam Ibungohal and Chongtham Chanu
Thambalngambi on Wednesday, the 30th of September, 1896 at Pishumthong, Oinam
Leikai in Imphal, Manipur. He lost his father while he was still a little child and his
mother had to shift to Moirangkhom Sougaijam Leikai and took shelter there with
her only little boy. He studied up to class VII (1913) at Johnstone School (present
Johnstone Hr Sec. School). From there on he accompanied his cousin and went to
Dacca (in Bangladesh) to stay with his well-off relatives. There he did manual
labour to earn and support his education and studied upto class IX. He could not
finish his matriculation though owing to his extremely poor financial condition.
Irawat unfortunately lost his mother around this time (1915) and became an orphan
at the young age of 19. He gave up his studies and went to stay at Tripura with
some of his relatives. After some time, he returned to Manipur and stayed at a
former classmate and friend's house whose father's name was Maibam Shamdem at
Wangkhei Pukhri Mapan.
Though he became an orphan at an age when many of our youths today
are still dependent on their parents for their daily needs, Irawat did not stray or
become emotionally downtrodden. He was a brave young man who had a charming
personality. He was always soft-spoken, modest, helpful and ever smiling with a
limitless fund of humour as recalled by one of his colleague artiste.
Had such a child been born today into a poor family, raised by a single
mother and orphaned at a young age, we would have predicted that he will be
emotionally disturbed and lost.
But Irawat's life - the person that he grew up to be,
the personality that he carried and the leadership style with which he swayed the
people proves beyond doubt what the humanistic psychologists have emphasised
- that we are all born with free will and it is up to us to decide to be the best person
we can be and that we all have this choice no matter what the external or internal
forces or circumstances might be.
Irawat's life has a big message for our youth today - to make the best
choice in life and not to be disheartened by the unfavourable circumstances of life
but to soar like an eagle and live for the people. Unlike our present society where
youths have only one-sided development, Irawat spent his youthful days in the
pursuit of games and sports, dance, drama, music and in writing. He played Kang,
a traditional Manipuri game, and was said to be one of the best player of Wangkhei
Kangkhut (Wangkhei Kang Club). He also played football, hockey and cricket. He
was also very skilled at Sarit-Sarak (Manipuri Martial Arts). He was one of the
founder of Town club which emphasized on sports in 1922.
He also started Sahitya
Sanmelan, Manipur Dramatic Union and Manipuri SahityaParishad in 1932 along
with his distinguished colleague Khawirakpam Chaoba who became the convenor.
Upon my research on Irawat, I came to know that he had contributed a lot
to Manipuri literature too. He was, in fact, one of the pioneers of the Manipuri
literature and journalism. He edited the first Manipuri journal, 'Meitei Chanu' in
1922. He also contributed to the journal 'Yakairol' and other published in the 1930's.
He published a handwritten and cyclostyled weekly called 'Anouba Yug' which
was edited by himself.
He was also a close associate of Manipuri poets during the
Renaissance of Manipuri Literature. He composed a collection of 23 poems known
as 'Sheidam Sheireng' dealing with nature, morals, stories from the Ramayana such
as killing of Jatayu by Ravana, Rama's waiting when Ravana abducted Sita and
questions of right and wrong. This was used as a textbook of class VII during
1940s. He wrote a biography 'Lokmanya Tilak' of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the freedom
fighter from Maharastra.
He also wrote 'Mandalay Khongpham'- a travelogue based
on his Mandalay visit and other essays as well. His first novel 'Muhini' was
serialised in the journal 'Yakairol' in 1931. He also wrote a play, 'Gomati' and translated
Bankim chandra's 'Krishna Kanta's Will" into Manipuri. He had also written a
number of poems while in jail but these didn't see the light of the day while he was
alive. They were published only in 1987 by Irabat Lairik Phongba Lup, Imphal under
the title, 'Imagi Pujah'.
Irawat was also a lyricist. He had a deep faith in the revolutionary potential
of the toiling masses and his ideas affected the thoughts and feelings of every
progressive Manipuri of the time. His poems and songs called on the people to
unite, to free the country from colonial yoke. He also translated into Manipuri
08 Irabot Day Observance 2016 Irabot Day Observance 2016 09
songs like 'Thangol Adu Maya Thangu Thouna, Hey Lou- uba' and 'Houro Awaba
Ahingi' which were originally composed in Bengali by his artiste colleague Hemango
Biswas whom he met in Sylhet jail.
Irawat also acted in Bengali plays (1915-20) and played the role of 'Kumud'
in the first historical play in Manipuri, 'Nara Singh', in the year 1925. His participation
in modern Manipuri theatre as an artiste both in male and female roles was highly
appreciated. Another memorable role that he played was that of Chandra Singh in
the social play of S. Lalit Singh, 'Areppa Marup' (inseparable friend). In the Manipuri
version of the play, 'Devala Devi', he played the role of Baladeva. Besides these, he
acted in other plays like Sati Khongnaang, Birmangal, etc. It is said that he identified
himself with the character so completely with superb acting that the audience
would forget it was a play and get deeply engrossed. Such was his charisma as an
artiste! The true reflections of his internal feeling was manifested for the first time
in the symbol of 'Manipur Dramatic Union'-'two ploughs kept across' which was
innovated by himself.
As recalled by Hemango Biswas, in 1944 District Kisan Sabha Conference,
Irawat was in the presidential chair. There was a cultural programme at the end of
the conference wherein the tea labourers of 'Atharatila' were presenting a Jhumur
dance. He recalled that at the peak of the dance, Irawat left the presidential chair
and joined the dancers, making no mistakes in step and rhythm and continued till
the end. Indeed, it is no wonder that later in life he was actively involved in the
movement of Indians' Peoples Theatre Association (IPTA) in many parts in Assam
and Tripura.
Irawat's versatile personality and his growing popularity caught the
attention of the royal family of Manipur. He was given Rajkumari Khomdonsana
Devi, the daughter of Chandrahas, the elder brother of Maharajah Churachand in a
pompous wedding. He was appointed to the post of a member of the then Sadar
Panchayat, the highest criminal court of the time, by the Maharaja and gave him
some land and other facilities. In 1924, he attended a meeting in Calcutta just after
Mahatma's release which maybe said to be his first contact with the national
movement. He pledged himself to work for and serve his people. Remembering his
hard days in school as a youth, he devoted to the spread of education in Manipur.
Primary schools sprang up all over the hills despite the unsympathetic attitude of
the state officials. He worked hard to learn the laws and was always anxious to
reform them so that the inequalities might be eliminated. Though holding a high
post as a member of the Panchayat, he mingled around with the common people
and started getting acquainted with the malpractices and exploitations under the
feudal system.
He was unhappy with some serious practices of those days like the
practice of holy and unholy ( amang asheng), unbearable taxes levied upon the
common man like Chandon Senkhai ( tax on applying chandan), Khewa, Matu and
other oppressive practices such as Peon Chakthak (feeding of petty officials without
compensation), Dolaising ( palanquin carrying duty ), Yarek Sentry, Patsen Mashul
(catching fishes in the fields and lakes without the permission of the middlemen or
the contractors), taxes on crossing bridges,etc.
To be continued....
* Joyshree Usham (M. Sc. Applied Psychology, B. Ed.) wrote this article for a booklet publication of Irabot Day Observance Committee Delhi 2016
This article was posted on October 04, 2016.
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