Why Nagas Should Support Sadar Hills Movement

By:- Masangthei Shimray *

To bring reasons above emotions, the issue of Sadar Hill district needs serious re-assessment. The demand is similar in many ways to the recent demand made by COPTAM which united the hill tribes. Unlike earlier times, the present momentum of demand for Sadar Hills is mainly fired by the inclusion of all the proposed Sadar Hills area into Imphal west district in the name of urbanization.

Was not this same issue that united the hill tribes - Kukis and Nagas? The issue of Sadar Hill district enjoys the advantage of being grounded deeper in the sands of time than the reactive movement of COPTAM.

Anybody from Sadar Hills area with recent experience of dealing with the government office will surely know that governmental office works are now done at Lamphel, the district headquarter of Imphal west and no longer in Senapati. To cite one example, the popular or probably the only known rural development scheme, MGNREGA in Sadar Hills is about to be revoked.

One can get this fact vetted from the concern DC of Senapati district who had insist on tagging along the state government’s definition of urban and rural areas. How much of the administration will remain in Senapati and how much to Imphal west, only time will tell. Technically, Sadar Hills is no longer part of Senapati district and the transition is almost over. If Sadar Hills district is not created, it becomes part of Imphal west. Which one is the better option?

Certain section of the civil society felt insecure of land ownership and discrimination owing to the creation of Sadar Hills. One must not forget that the land that belongs to the Kukis remains with them even though they were under the administration of Senapati district, a district predominantly inhabited by the Nagas. Were the Kukis discriminated in Senapati district?

These myths are unfounded and till date, no tribe wise discrimination is reported. Even if such discriminations are unreported, as implied by some NGOs, it only justifies the creation of Sadar Hills district. In the wake of suspicion over the function of any governmental office one can always use the RTI to expose the perpetrators and make them accountable for the same.

The state is so divided in opposing aspirations that trifle matters like district formation unnecessarily raise the question of integrity or integration. If mere formation of district(s) can impede these aspirations, it accentuates the fact that such aspirations are unjustified compulsion meant to serve one sided interest. One must be very clear that amidst conflicting aspirations development and administration cannot be completely ignored.

Unless the growth of human population is somehow halted, creation of Sadar Hills district today and some other district tomorrow is inevitable. As much as one anticipates the growth of population that much of development is required to minimized the development deficit accumulated over the years particularly in the hills under Senapati district.

In the face of development and administration, mindless confrontation founded on emotions must be avoided at all cost. Unnecessary confrontations can easily obligate the Kukis to reach an accord with the Meiteis which will only be detrimental to the political aspiration of the Nagas.

It is high time that the hill tribes of Manipur bury their traditional hatchets of mistrusts to survive the onslaught of the much more dangerous forces in the name of forest acts and urbanization. One should realize that urbanization alone is aimed at changing the traditional land holding system to patta system of land holding which will open the flood gate for the non-tribal populace to seize land in the hill district.

Expansion of Imphal west district in the name of urbanization is the dreaded Manipur land reforms act in a different avatar. Once this clandestine move sees the light of day, hill people will be persuaded or compelled to part with their traditional land. Plot by plot and acre by acre the hills will slip into the hands of the much moneyed non-tribal community of the valley.

Hill people will become culturally and politically insignificant in their traditional land, which they own since time immemorial. For the hill people of Manipur, unity among the Kukis and Nagas is the only weapon strong enough to sustain their traditional rights.

Sadar Hills should not be used to gain political mileage rather it should be used as the beginning of social harmony between the two tribes leading to survival strategies for all the hill people of Manipur.