The Manipuri National Character

Prof JC Sanasam *

The Manipuri National Character (maybe a more appropriate word should be the Meitei National Character in a truer and narrower sense of the term), for better or for worse, is not likely to fade away easily. Come what may, the wider Indian Nationalism or the new wave of worldwide globalization, any of them may overshadow it superficially for a period of time in the history; but, when it comes to the core of its composite, hardened and well planted entity in the social structure, it appears that nobody or no socio-politico-economic change will ever be able to wipe out the Manipuri National Character. It is in the blood; still deeper, in the gene of the Manipuris.

The Bengali Vaishnavism attempted to enter into the minds of the Manipuris and bring them into the sea of Radha-Krishna cult of love and religion to replace Bengali vernacular in place of Manipuri dating from the days of King Pamheiba or Garib Niwaj (1714-54 CE); but it could not root out the Manipuri vernacular and ancient ancestor-worship of the people.

For centuries in the history, the Burmese (now the Myanmarese) did what they could, specifically during the Chahee Taret Khuntakpa (Seven Years' Devastation, 1819-1826 CE), to take the Manipuris in their fold of political control, culture and religion; they failed. The British subjugated the people and ruled over them for more than half a century (1891-1947 CE); the Manipuri National Character remained alive.

With the coercive merger of Manipur in the Republic of India (1949 CE, 65-66 years now), fostered by the then Manipuri political leaders who claimed they took parts in the fight for Indian Independence against the British yoke, the attempt of the Indian Nationalism to swallow the Manipuri National Character has ever been prevailing; but at the end of the day it is found to be failing to do so.

Manipur is rather left to feel betrayed, colonized under the Indian dominance and so frustrated as the post Independence days have been drifting without much of significance to the state when compared to what has taken place in other states including the neighbouring ones.

Manipur, which had enough food, space and an environment of plenty of everything now seems to be left without much of a tangible self-preservation, being sidelined all the time. The space previously enjoyed by the original native populace is simply slipping away slowly through their own fingers, and the people now feel that they are becoming the marginalized minority group in their own birth place.

Yet the Manipuri National Character is getting stronger and stronger. Now it is left to those in Delhi in whose hands are the helms of affairs and to the leaders of Manipur to think of what positive things they could do about it.

A book, which has dealt to the depth about everything to do with Manipur and the Manipuris, is perhaps Dr. Mahendra Irengbam's 'Points to Ponder', Vrinda Publication (P) Ltd., Delhi, 2013. A reader who has gone through this book is bound to ponder over the past, present and future of Manipur, a book in every detail of everything well documented and well analyzed touching every aspect.

During a literary meet organized by the Writers Forum Manipur, Imphal some months ago a young man, in a condemning tone, deprecated, Manipur gee ayibashing gee marakta humduna puba ngamba laairik amatta houjik phaaobada puthokpa ngamdri (Among the Manipuri writers none is yet able to bring out a book that can sweep away the total atmosphere). Some of us wanted to counter-question him, 'Do you read Manipuri books at all?' But we did not; he had the deportment of a young activist who wanted to make a swaggering point to show his presence.

There are, in fact, plenty of books, written in Manipuri, dwelling upon many aspects of world affairs, philosophy of life, identity, nativity, culture, so and so forth. But the sad thing is that nobody in Manipur reads the works of local writers. If I happen to meet the young man again I definitely would like to tell him to have a look into Dr Mahendra's book. It is after reading certain chapters of this book that I started to fancy writing on this topic in this column and what I write here is mostly from his book. I have my courtesy to him for doing so.

There was a time in the later part of the history of Manipur: 'King Gambhir Singh was recognized as the Raja of Manipur and the Treaty of Yandabo signed in 1826, between East India Company and the Burmese. That Treaty bound the Burmese to recognize the perpetual independence of Manipur. This was the starting point of the emergence of the Meitei national character as iron entered the soul of the Meitei.'

The Manipuris do have a distinctive spirit, character, ceremonies, beliefs, tastes, quirks, habits, foibles and a composite culture and literature with a written language of their own script to build up this Manipuri national character.

'History is silent witness to the arrogant character of Chandrakirti Maharaja (1850-1886) who went to "Jila Durbar" to parley with Viceroy Lord Northbrook, at Silchar Jila, because of his refusal to allow British India to set up a police post at Kohima, which then belonged to Manipur'. The Manipuris have a belligerent or bellicose trait, which somehow or other enabled them to defend the freedom of their land for nearly 2000 years or so; maybe foolhardy sometimes that made them concede to the British.

Dr Irengbam believes that the Manipuris have some degree of Narcissism and Nash equilibrium as well that further strengthened them to fight for their pride, valor and freedom. 'The gene which is a piece of chromosome could live as copies for generations. The genes are immortal. So, the immortal aggressive Meitei national character is determined by the aggregate linkage group of different genes of the seven warring clans, on a chromosome. Given the stringency of their fighting ability and success, self-reliance and self-sufficiency, the Meitei national character undoubtedly wrenched them into a new genetic unit, which eventually mutated by what is called "inversion'' producing a phenotype of Narcissism'.

The writer goes on to say, 'in Manipur by the 1950s, with emerging process of social change that was characteristic of this century, a new class of liberal educated young Meitei people with an aching modernism sprang up with an infantile noble spirit that grew up to a mature Meitei national character.' Perhaps it is this kind of national character with which the generations of Manipuris who got born from about the 1930s till today have grown up in this land.

To cope up with this environment what the National leaders in Delhi and state leaders here need to think of is, perhaps, to see to it that the Manipuris retain their land, identity and nativity without interference, and also the basic infrastructure of modern life such as electricity, water to drink and for toiletry purpose, and acceptable road links among the district villages on which cars and buses can do their day-to-day plying movements be within easy reach as is visible at any small town and villages elsewhere. Only three basic infrastructures; the rest will join up almost automatically without losing much time.