Road to Cachar : A memoir

R.K. Shivachandra *

A meeting at Cachar in April 2016

It was 1812 AD, two royal princes of Manipur namely Chourjit and Gambhir Singh fled to Cachar, Assam. The two princes were defeated by their brother Marjit with Burmese influence. King Marjit took the reins of power for quite some time as the king of Manipur. The two princes who fled from Manipur were received in full honour by Govinda Chandra, the king of Cachar. He was a generous king, known as a visionary with broad outlook. Little did the noble King know that a fatal destiny awaits him that he would soon be overthrown and force to flee to Sylhet on the point of blade of these two royal princes of Manipur? Exactly it was, Govinda Chandra was dethroned in his own Kingdom and Cachar was in the hands of the two refugee Meitei princes.

Later He fled to Sylhet to take asylum under British administration. Around the same time King Marjit who ruled Manipur was also driven out by Burmese and he also fled to Assam. He approached Maharaj Chourjit, seeking forgiveness by surrendering the sacred image of Lord Govindajee to him. Chourjit who are in wait to take revenge in the opportune time against his brother melted down with mercy and this is how the warring Manipuri Princes scripts stories of rise and fall history of Manipur. And definitely that was a reunion of three royal princes who were often on each other’s throat over the Kingdom of Manipur. The story of Manipur Levy or Gambhirsing levy with 500 Manipuri hardcore horsemen that attacked Burmese in Manipur valley and ultimately made the Burmese leaving Manipur is now a history.

Early History reveals that the first Meetei settlement in Cachar took place during the reign of kaikhomba, a king of Manipur when one Chingjen Naran Pangalba migrated to the Barak valley in the 5th century AD. There were mass exodus in due course of time that settled in Kashipur and adjoining plains following the Burmese aggression known till this day as Chahi Taret Khuntakpa (Seven years devastation 1819-1825). Many of the Meeties who settled in Kashipur happened to be the retinues of the princes Induprabha Devi, who was married to the King Krishnachandra, a Cachari King in 1806 A.D.

Today’s generation knows very little about Cachar. Some says that it is a district in Assam or somebody blows sentimental tone on the Manipuri population in the district and Meeties who had been scattered around the plain. Cachar is much more than that especially to the Meeties. . Cachar is the springboard of creating a new Manipuri history, a base that gave birth to thousands of revolutionaries. It is a promise land that had been a breeding ground of Manipuri national heroes on whose ferocious sword many occupational Burmies warriors breathed their last with their heads rips apart in the fertile soil of Manipur.

Today Assam has above six lakhs Meeties and figure could be more with the inclusion Meetie Pangals. Cachar is also the land that gave Manipuris the taste of freedom, a lovely soil that brought all the three warring royal princes together into one. Cachar should be a seat of power, the shrine where young Manipuri generation should touch her soil for a new spirit that should glorify Manipur to new heights of success. This is the beginning of new history.

I was with Shri Biswajit, MLA, Thongju Assembly Constituency for a whole week in Cachar this time in a whirlwind tour. Mr. Biswarjit was assigned to take stock of the situation of the General Election of Assam particularly over Lakhipur for BJP candidate. Shree Robin Blakey, Treasurer Manipur BJP Unit and I made the team. There are also many unsung heroes inside the team whose name they does not want to expose. But Shree Maibam Sarat is there as an indispensable man for me as a friend. I have known Biswajit about 20 years or more. A young entrepreneur with inquisitive eyes he was then who were in quest of success.

He was not a politician at the beginning but a philanthropist sort. He helped people a lot . His political airstrip does not as smooth as it was determined. A law Court dispute over his candidature in the election and tussle over the Trinamool ticket.... is indeed a long story. Th. Biswajit survived pitches of political salvo fired out from rival political party. Before he was a Trinamol Congress MLA under Mamta Banerjee, with grass and flower as its symbol. The grass does not grow in Manipur as it was professed. The Bengal based Political party came to Manipur roaring like a lion and returned to Bengal like a wounded lamb. It was a bad taste.

In the worst event of pushing political power button, Th. Biswajit along with two Trinamool MLAs were disqualified without much reason to explain. One out of the three MLAs had gone to Court of Law and somehow retained his seat but Biswajit and Joykishan contested a fresh by poll election on BJP ticket. It was a highly risk game to cross swords with Chief Minister and his bunch of Congress MLAs. Biswajit emerged out with his triumphant cup in the by poll election without even a minor scratch and this time the success cup seemed to be bigger with lotus symbol branded on his forehead.

He proudly exclaimed “Many can go to the Court of Law but for a humble man like me there is no bigger Court than the Court of my own people. I have come to you to seek justice”. Tear flows down the crowd and a thunderous clap would follow him. This young MLA is loved by all and a very fond of object of the God who is unseen but omnipresent everywhere. But God never manufactured men perfect all round. He is on the other side of the coin is an angry young men. He is swift Bruce-lee style attacker in any argument. He has a high degree skill of repartee. He can speak convincingly and always I am not wrong man. But he is very concrete and thorough in whatever subject he speaks. With a slow and stammering tongue, one will be always on ‘fault line’ in his presence. It is always safe to discuss lucrative business and good politics with him over few drinks instead of logging horns on matters nobody ever able to solve before.

There is also Robin Blakei, a good friend and my debate mate. Our argument sometimes lasted for hours together. We had had many heated arguments that resulted into a rough Wild West cowboy like scene as if we draw out pistol from holster and fire each other but it never happen. Our high scale argument only helped in scaring away rest of the colleagues sitting around us. I don’t know who had given this name to him ‘Robin Blackei’.

But his name and appearance seemed to be that much matching that nobody forgets his name from the day one. He should thank the man who gave this lovely name to him. Robin Blacklei is a persuasive talker and he can speak for hours together if nobody intervenes him. He also has vast array of knowledge in modern politics and a good event manager. He knows how to carry audience and using appropriate term in his speech.

In certain parts of Cachar he was much sought after talker and many will appreciate his speech. One day a Manipuri Pangal in Ranipur, Cachar requested me to give more time to Robin Blackei as he can pull more crowds with his speech. A happy Robin Blackey who overheard the talk would overlook me through his glass as a sign of indication that how effective he was in speech though there were numerous bouts of arguments with me in sleeplessness nights. I acknowledged him. Blakey is an unavoidable companion especially in long journey. I feel safe with him.

We were on a two days visit but we were compelled to prolong the campaign following the instruction of the Ajay Jambal, the North East BJP In-Charge and some central leadership. We were compelled to stay back and it evoked to be a perfect journey.

Lakhipur always comes out with a nostalgic feeling and the name Lakhipur itself is too romantic. There had been many theatrical plays, films based on Lakhipur and of course Singerbond Meetei villages by the river of Barak that instil the concept of Ngabongkhao to our renowned writer late GC Tongbra.

Apart from Lakhipur there is Pallarbond, a Meetei village by the National Highway with beautiful landscapes all around. There is Bakhan a remote Meetei village just across Jiri river with a sizeable number of Manipuri population. There are many more. The road that links Silchar bisects the Meetie villages dotted thickly by the stretch of the road and Meeties inhabits as far as Silchar . It gives a sense of security to the meetei truck drivers unlike the spine chilling experience on Kohima Dimapur road. Lakhipur basically had a Meetei stronghold physically and politically. Before there were Shree Bidyapati Singh(1946-52), Laishram Merachaoba Singh(1967-72) and Wangkhem Subhankar Singh(1972-78) all belong to Meetei community who have contested and represented as legislators in the Assam Legislative Assembly.

There was also Quazi Qutub Udin Ahmed (1978-83), a Manipuri Pangal as MLA. But disunity among the Manipuris erased the success story and now it is almost 35 years that people of Cachar have not seen a Manipuri MLA. Lakhipur A/C has about one lac fifty thousand voters spread across that touches parts of Sonai to the South-west. A winning candidate needs about 45 to 50 thousands votes in 176 polling stations. The main vote banks lie in Tea Bhagan areas. The workers in Bhagan hardly met any MLAs or candidates in the last 50 years they are being instructed through many able agents and they have strong 50 thousands votes.

There is no handing over taking business in the election but two glasses of whiskies may sometimes be useful. The second biggest is Meetie with around 35 thousands population while Meetie Pangals follows with about 30 thousands voters. In case the Meetei Pangal and Meetie together formed a group; the Lakhipur Assembly is undoubtedly belonged to a Manipuri. But it never works. There are also other tribal groups Hmar tribes of Manipur and Kabuis that formed about 20 thousands voters and some smaller communities.

Shree L. Thoiba is now contesting on a BJP ticket under Lakhipur A/C. The first phase poll is over now. The Meetei and Meetei pangals seemed to have worked together united. The vote banks in Tea Bhagan have divided and this had not happened before. It was a cakewalk for Congress before. The NaMo mantra seemed to have worked effectively here. Shree Thongam Biswajit was the first Meitei MLA of BJP that penetrated the lanes and by lanes of tea state workers in Assam and knocking doors for BJP votes. Many have not seen an MLA standing on their doorstep for years and it was hard and time taking process to convince them that Biswajit was MLA. Many Manipuris around also cracked him a joke that why he should not contest in the lakhipur Assembly Constituency next.

There is also BJP wave in the air and Thoiba may re-emerge again as a Manipuri MLA after 35 years. But what the EVM had to say we have to wait till the day. There were also many astray Meetei who are heading Rajdeep Golla’s rally, the Congress candidate. They seemed to work hard for Congress. Community and blood linage was not that serious concern for them. If Thoiba fails this time there may not perhaps another Manipuri MLA down the road in 30 years? It may happen again only when the Meeties and Meetei Pangals reunited again. This is not the political or Party view point but it is question of Unity.

I also heard that there was a Manipuri woman who had contested on BJP ticket in previous election. She had not been accommodated this time. Some Manipuris are seriously reacting to the ticket committee for awarding ticket to Thoiba. They said if ticket was given to the woman than it would hit the bull eye. I am sad Meeteis wherever they are there is question mark on UNITY. The Meeteis in Myanamr, the Meeteis in Bangladesh, the Meeteis in Manipur, The Meeteis in Assam, The Meeteis in Tripura have a common ethos that is the inability to sing the song of unity in the same chord.

The most unforgettable moment of the whole journey was interacting with Manipuris in all the villages under Lakhipur A/C. I don’t think I have missed even a Meitei village. It was more than an election campaign in Sonai. Well it was a sentimental interaction on the line of Manipuris. They have not seen Thoiba before but they said they will vote for him. I am planning for another trip soon and not as a politician this time.

R.K. Shivachandra

* R.K. Shivachandra contributes regularly to e-pao.net
The writer is President, Indo Myanmar Fraternal Alliance and is also with BJP, Manipur
He can be contacted at nongpokharam(at)gmail(dot)com


This article was posted on April 10, 2016 .