Shall we stand or fall (sink) together ?

By:- Rojendrakar Nongthomba *

There may be divergent views or theories as regards the origin of the different ethnic tribes of Manipur. Many scholars believe that dominant inhabitant in the plain and certain hill autochthones, who have settled here from time immemorial, have the same ancestry. I am not trying to prove or disprove the different claims or theories regarding the common ancestry.

But one thing I am sure of is that there would have not been this many ethnic tribal groups (inclusive of meitei) when human settlement appeared for the first time in this land of Manipur. This must have been as result of the natural or artificial processes of fission and fusion among the original inhabitants, and also between them and later immigrants to this land. And I think this process of evolving of different ethnic groups still takes place in the region.

This so-called ceaseless fission and fusion processes may involve the deliberate acts on the part of the groups. They may use both coercive and non coercive means. I am not elaborating much on the topic as I am apt to believe that academic discourse will be more suitable for such subject. I am naive in this area! But the fact is that today our society has already witnessed so many ethnic groups.

And in recent times the existence of multi-ethnic groups, whose, supposedly, cultural practices (inclusive of language) and group aspirations/interests are different from one another, has engendered some sorts of ill-feelings ,apprehensions, mistrust and above all social distance between the various ethnic groups. Other factors such as less-economic development, corruption at all levels, community based militancy, alleged inefficient or biased administration, feeling of relative deprivation so and so forth, might have accentuated the feeling of mistrust among the groups.

Let me confess in the beginning that the purpose of this article is not to analyse the myriad possible causes of ethnic animosity and mistrust but to make an earnest request to all the communities to ferret out lasting solution to the simmering tensions prevailing among the communities or ethnic groups in the state and neighbouring states.

I was really perturbed by the unfortunate recent incidents of Mao. I was thinking what I could do at individual level and eventually, at the end of the day, I end up writing this article. But, I neither intend to go into the root cause of the incident nor am I interested into the question of 'who is right and who is wrong'. I suppose enough opinions have been expressed or aired about the issue. And I do not have the knack of dissecting others' opinions.

In the wake of proposed visit of general secretary of NSCN (IM) to his birth place in Manipur, some unwanted incidents have already taken place and the situation is still volatile and shaky. In this critical hour what common man like me can do other than making humble request to my beloved brethren of all the communities not to take up any such activities that might give rise to communal clashes. And my poor soul would get some respite if this small write-up goes a long way towards cementing the socio-cultural, economic and emotional ties that have bound all the communities from time immemorial, and also towards soothing the emotionally agitated and excited people of the state.

Why should we avoid clashes?

Whatever is the genetic make-up of the major ethnic groups of plain and hills of Manipur, one can safely conclude that, phenotypically or in the outward physical feature, we share many similarities. In simple term we can say we look similar in certain physical features. To the eyes of the outsiders, not multiple but we have only one identity of Chinky. Leave alone the outsiders we ourselves sometimes find difficulties to distinguish between nagas, meiteis and kukis. Not only members of these ethnic groups look alike in certain physical features but also there are many similarities in the cultural practices/ideas of these ethnic groups.

Above that not only these groups act as the referent groups for cultural emulation or evaluation for other groups but also there have been connubial or commensal interactions from time immemorial. Historical events/ legends and the indispensable presence of certain cultural traits of one group in the cultural/religious practices of other are the testimonies of our inter group socio-cultural /politico-economic exchanges or interaction that have been taking place among the different groups from time immemorial.

What do the cultural activities/traits such as mera haochaoba ,mera wayungba to name a few , the religious performance of tangkhul-nuraby in the meitei lai haraoba ritual, the place occupied by haoreima - shampubi among the meitei goddesses, and the compulsory wearing of clothes of some naga tribe by the then meitei kings at the time of coronation suggest? These suggest there is an unbreakable bond that binds the different ethnic groups. In this context it can also be remembered that Pamheiba or Garib Nawaz, one of the greatest kings of meitei, was brought up in a naga village and his mother was a naga tribe.

Moreover, the question of different identities hardly arises among us in the alien land. The ethnic antagonism, which may prevail in this region, seems to vanish in a jiffy, whenever anyone of our looks (chinky looks) from our region is threatened or harmed by an alien people in an alien land. All of us shed our differences and the face the situation unitedly. I, myself, had encountered such situation when I was in Delhi.

What does this feeling signify? One thing I can make out from such feeling is that, in our 'collective unconscious mind' there is the feeling of oneness or brotherhood among so-called different original ethnic groups. And this feeling of oneness in our 'collective unconscious mind' may remain repressed or dormant for sometime but this will emerge to surface whenever anyone of our groups is threatened to be harmed by the other outside groups.

Our Collective unconscious mind has inherited this feeling of oneness from the time human settlement appeared or human civilization began in this region. Not only to our 'unconscious collective mind' 'we' are one but also to the conscious collective mind of the outsiders 'we' are one. So, if any, over any issue, massive inter-group carnage or bloodshed flares up among us (among the ethnic groups of the region), God forbids, it will be a case of fratricide.

Yes, it is quite natural that in human society problems are bound to be there! But humans unlike other animals have equipped themselves with symbolic and non symbolic communication skills, and these are being assimilated and improved by the posterity through the media of enculturation and culture-reproduction processes. And humane and real human beings are those groups who settle their intra or inter group problems through the media of non-violent means of dialogue process and transparent public discourses.

If 'we' are able to use this gift of communication medium of language for such purposes 'we' will be known as the cleverest human groups world has ever seen. Then, why do not 'we' strive for this image? I sincerely feel that now is the appropriate moment that every community in the state should ask this pertinent question and try to reconcile their differences through peaceful dialogue process. And every one of us should also keep in mind that every action has its reaction in equal intensity.

So whenever there is any conflict situation between any two groups both parties are going to be affected. If there is clash among the communities in the region it's only 'we' who would be the losers, and the above that it will convey a wrong message to other parts of the country. Already many mainland Indians, who do not have much or proper knowledge of this region, have written us off as barbarous people. At this juncture any sanguinary ethnic violence or fisticuffs arises this will prove their impression about us i.e., uncivilized primitive people living in jungle.

In multi–ethnic setting like ours, only harmonious co-existence and accommodation can bring development and welfare to all the groups. Already our people have suffered loads of hardships in the hands of various powerful forces (I do not need to mention these forces as you all know these forces well). In such situation, if any ethnic upheaval or flare up arises, only god knows, what our future would be; shudder to imagine.

Have we ever thought of the long term repercussions of any ethnic cleansing? One logical consequence of such clash would be –"uninterrupted vicious cycle of helplessness, feeling of revenge, and again bloodshed" or other alternative consequence will be- 'everlasting uncontrollable feeling of remorse and repentance' on the parts of those groups who orchestrate or unleash such terror or pogrom .

Do we want this to happen? Every sensible person in this region would at once answer a big –NO. Then, is not now the high time to shed our differences of all sorts which are incompatible with or hinder the peaceful co-existence or free intermingling of the different ethnic groups? If answer is yes, it will be better for all the inhabitants of this state and neighbouring states to coalesce together and work collectively for the well-being and prosperity of all in all fronts-political, economic, educational and socio-cultural-and prove to the other Indians, holding our heads high, that we, the 'chinkies of this region', are not less than anyone.

Lastly, once more, I want to make an earnest entreaty to every inhabitant of our region (north-east region) to consider each one of us as a member of 'one big community', rather than segregate ourselves into different ethnic groups with never-converging interests and aspirations. In this context I want to reiterate the civilizatioanal old adage –"United we stand, Divided fall (sink)".

Shall we sink or shall we stand? It is 'we' who will decide the fate of this question. But, I can tell, nobody of us does want to exterminate or wipe out ourselves from the surface of the earth.