The Equation That Is Manipur

Keithellakpam Johnson *

Manipur District Map

The Indian State Manipur which has a recorded history of more than two thousands years or so as an independent kingdom before being a part of the Union of India has been reeling under a paralytic and occasionally or rather frequently explosive tryst since its merger with the Union of India after India got independence from British colonial rule.

The name Manipur which has so many other names either coined by itself or by the outside world is immaterial or need no controversial attention in this presentation by virtue of the historical fact that there did exist an entity which has come to be known as Manipur and it is not necessary to think that the name will remain unchanged. There may come a time when all the domiciled residents want a more appropriate name in unison.

Manipur had also its share of colonial subjection under British Empire and also had a short break of sovereign status under a constitutional monarchy with real executive power exercised by a council of ministers constituted from a legislative body whose members were directly elected by the erstwhile citizens of that time.

There is still a political controversy regarding the nature of its merger with the Union of India which was effected with the then Maharaja of Manipur who had no authorization to sign the treaty of that magnitude. And that is one unresolved issue among so many problems which has passed on as part of our past legacy.

The lingering memory of betrayal, neglect and a fearful sense of being a captive as well as isolated has its larger toll in the psyche of the people of this State till to the present in spite of its bitter experience of hard struggle to attain the Statehood status from being a mere Part C State administered by a Chief Commissioner.

This paragraph is an exposition of an element in the larger remember-able areas of the full spectrum of the collective memory inherited in the form of past glory and nightmares playing its significant role in the socio-political landscape of Manipur till this day and its present embodiment constitute a major alignment in the equation that is Manipur.

At the socio-cultural realm, religion as well as cultural adoptions and consequent transformations have a decisive imprint and shift in the nature of exclusive pull and push pressures and takes its share in the equation that is Manipur in the form of hierarchical insulation as well as proselytization. For that case the major religions that is, the Vaishnavite Hinduism, the Sanamahi faith, the Christianity, the Islam, the Kabui traditional faith and there may be many others unaccounted at all.

In addition to this religious dimensions, there is a major and very significant element that is the colonial classificatory study and profiling of various discovery of anthropological subjects using various generic terms in their forays to the so called North Eastern India during their imperial period which has been taken over by the Independent India’s scholarship.

This recorded study of the erstwhile British Empire and inherited by the Independent India goes hand in hand with the political mobilization based on the modern nation-state theories under the umbrella of these generic terms from the very beginning of these inceptions till this day using political permutations and combinations of mathematical calculations and employing of these knowledge of ethnic identifications and the associated topography of innumerably diverse ethnic enclaves has its shadows in the state that is Manipur and the consequent important factor in the equation.

Further, man’s greed of territorial space is a historically proven universal truism which adds another dimension to the equation either by instilling or dreaming on its own volition or both giving feathers to the wild and hostile dreams and its systematic de-facto fruition in the game of exclusive political mobilization and consolidation with its toll in the larger dimension of communal harmony and peaceful co-existence of a distinctly-evidently, socially and culturally not so different but more of similarity and a common thread of being of the same kinship origin which passed down as well as passed through across the ethnic boundaries in the form of written or oral narratives.

At another level that is the continuing and existing political-economic level which has always carries a charge and an insinuation that everything is concentrated and swallowed up at the expense of the outlying areas by the Imphal Valley which has been the capital and the most densely populated area due to its historical position and roles.

And this historical position and roles of Imphal as the center is not by accident but due to the fact of the necessity and the convention all across the human society and the human history the densely populated and the confluence point of the various constituent sections of the population always serve as the mirror reflection of the whole that is the state Manipur.

About the charge of siphoning off of almost the funds by Imphal does not have much substance than just a propaganda piece just to make a move in the equation that is Manipur and the various permutation and combination involved. There is no doubt that there is a significant differences between the development level encountered at Imphal area with that of the far flung sparsely populated area. For this the presenter has also of the opinion that some feasible study and course correction should be done in the state policy and programme.

At another level, let us review the status of the Meiteis community as a whole despite its multi-dimensional inner diversity which is allegedly branded as the main villain, the main exploiter-looter, the beneficiary of all, the full power holder and exerciser, the dwellers of Imphal valley which is dreaming and attempting to make forays into the hill areas of the State where Meiteis is prohibited eternally by Divine Providence and above all the enemy of all.

It will be the holiest Sabbath to do an honest introspection whether it is white lies or true and further the reasons of allergic or fearful reaction towards Meitei co-habitating alongside other ethnicities. Please, to everyone concerned, to re-check, understand, put forth the reality in good faith.

After all, the most apt question to be asked are: who are really in charge of the planning and execution of different policies and programmes as well as the political and strategic planning of the state of Manipur in particular or the North East India or the Eastern India or the India as a whole? Is the equation that is Manipur till the moment sustainable and progressive?

Lastly, does the people of Manipur has no real existential threats and worries? If the answer is no, then it is a very fine answer and a very peaceful and admirable state of mind. For those the answer is yes and who sees a range of problems life will be a challenging and daring as well as be ever ready with courage to opening and seeing new horizons in the hope and desire of seeking solutions. Life goes like this on all ends.