Let us seek a change in name
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: April 28 2011 -
IT IS humbly suggested that all people in Manipur agree to change the name 'Manipur' to 'Kangleipak'. The name 'Manipur' has become synonymous with 'Meetei' and many communities bracket it with Meetei dominance.
Anyway 'Manipur' is too Aryan a word to represent a people which considers any Aryan concept uncomfortable.
However changing the nomenclature could in itself become a headache. Many people prefer to chide 'Manipur' conveniently equating it to Meetei overlordship.
Towards reaching a realisation of the facts of life, one appeals to those who had joined hands to shape the very geo-political character of Manipur. These communities had stood together to safeguard what one now views as 'Manipur'.
The nomenclature was never comfortable to the Meetei leave alone to the tribals. In fact over the years it has become an ill chosen name, one that the Meetei now feels should be cast aside. Over the years, the term 'Manipur' has become the whipping boy to lash out at the Meetei.
But now the Meetei ask the angered brethren to rest their flaying arms, after all the Meetei too have changed. That is, the Manipuri once regarded as a Foreign Legion conscript has now realised the full import of the society which they and others had created together.
Some tribes could counter the issue two ways. One by posing the question of 'Why now?' or simply by stating that they have become too accustomed to 'Manipuri' bashing and that a change in nomenclature might necessitate coining new swear words.
But what is the real issue? The issue is that the name of this land could be changed into another name by people who do not understand its history.
So let the principal parties stop throwing stones at each other and take stock of the facts. In our acts of distancing from each other the communities in Manipur have created voids and these voids are being trampled upon by unfamiliar boots.
The question now is what name to choose. A change at this stage may be considered an anathema by some to the concept of brotherhood within which we all live in. Leave that out of the bag and let the focus be on the term Kangleipak.
Explained from one narrow view point it means a wet land that has been dredged to make human settlement sustainable. It does not presage a pro Meetei connotation. It is also not a political coinage nor is it a term which will perplex the minds of the tribal brotherhood.
And of other nomenclatures and titles? All are welcome as long as they respect and characterize the notion of oneness that the past generations had built up. After all Manipur is not the land of the Meetei only.
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