Profiling political leaders : Not despite but because of
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 15 2011 -

Rishang Keishing flanked by well wishers on his 90th B'day in the last week of October 2009 :: Pix - The Sangai Express

In over a little month from now, that is on January 22, Manipur would have touched the four decade mark as a full fledged State of the Union of India and in the more than 39 years period of Statehood, it has had two tribal Chief Ministers in the persons of the late Yangmasho Shaiza and Rishang Keishing.

Apart from these two personalities, the hills of Manipur have also thrown up a number of distinguished political leaders such as the late Solomon, Professor Meijinlung Kamson, a four time MP from Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency and even in the present dispensation, Gaikhangam, as the president of the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee and Phungzathang Tonsing as one of the senior Congress Ministers in the Cabinet, continue to wield immense influence and political clout.

In between, Manipur has had the late Md Allimuddin as the first and so far the only Muslim Chief Minister of the State.

Truly, a characteristic which no other States in the North East region, perhaps barring Assam, can boast of.

However, ironically no other State in the North East region is being torn apart by the pulls and pressures of centrifugal forces as Manipur is today and this is all the more reason why the citizens of this land, who stand by the idea of a Manipur as a political and social entity, need to focus on this ironic turn of events and to do this, a balanced approach to the issue is the call of the hour.

It should be made clear here that Messrs Yangmasho Shaiza and Rishang Keishing went on to occupy the chair of the Chief Minister not on the magnanimity of any group of people belonging to any community.

Likewise these two personalities went on to etch a place for themselves in the historical annals of post Statehood Manipur not in spite of the situation.

Both Shaiza and Keishing managed to become Chief Ministers because of the social and political values of the land and the people. A study of the profiles of the political leadership of the land should rest on the premise that has just been spelt out or else it may amount to a gross misinterpretation of things.

This is all that more important in this period when the pulls and tears of the centrifugal forces are becoming more and more vocal.

The unfortunate part is, though the Lim advocates cannot but acknowledge the leadership profile of the land in the post Statehood period of Manipur, it has been more on the basis of Shaiza and Keishing becoming Chief Ministers despite the system.

On the other hand, to quite a large number of people who are opposed to the Lim concept, the fact that the two Naga gentlemen went on to become Chief Ministers of the State has always been ascribed to the magnanimity of the major community, Meiteis in this case.

Both lines of thought need to be punctured and fast.

In the first place, Shaiza and Keishing managed to become Chief Ministers of the land because of the political and social values of the land and this should be more than enough to negate the two thoughts on either side of the idea of a Nagalim.

Another very important factor and which should not and cannot be dismissed easily is the leadership qualities of the two personalities.

The political and social values mentioned here is an indication that there are rooms for the political aspirations of each and every community and seen in this backdrop it is but natural why the champions of the Lim demand will leave no stone unturned to turn this reality on its head and manufacture an idea on the premise of Nagalim which further rests on the foundation of a common foe, which has translated into the major community, the Meiteis.

This approach of turning the reality on its head is what has also propelled the demand for a separate Kuki State, though this is yet to gather momentum.

In the absence of anything concrete to sell to the people and to sustain and whip up passion, the idea of creating a foe becomes a convenient political tool and this is what is being staged on the political, social and economic stage of Manipur.

There are enough political opportunities for all. But to understand these opportunities as due to the magnanimity of any community would be to belittle the idea of a Manipur.

And acknowledging these opportunities also implies rubbishing the propaganda that the major community has been monopolising political power and opportunities.