5th Naorem Sanajaoba Memorial Lecture delivered at Manipur University

30th December: 2015

5th Naorem Sanajaoba Memorial Lecture delivered at Manipur University

The 5th Naorem Sanajaoba Memorial Lecture was delivered by Prof. Felix Padel, Anthropologist and social activist who is currently the Visiting Professor at the Centre for North East Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi on December 30, 2015 at the Court Room, Manipur University. Prof. Felix is also the Great Great Grandson of Charles Darwin. He spoke on the topic entitled, "Human Rights and Self-Determination as Prerequisites for Real Development".

Prof. W. Viswanath, Registrar, Manipur University, Shri Suvojit Bagchi, Chief of Bureau, The Hindu, Kolkota and Prof. N. Rajmuhan, President, Ojha Sanajaoba Memorial Trust, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest, Guest of Honour and President, respectively. As the presidium members were taking the dais, Prof. Felix belted out Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind", which created an ambience of revolutionary fervor in the otherwise lukewarm Court Room of the Manipur University.

The atmosphere of intellectual introspection and self-questioning even before the delivery of the Lecture was further heightened by the inaugural song performed "Tapta", the prominent voice of protest and an accomplished musician of Manipur who dedicated the song "Khongthang" (The Final Step) to late Ojha Sanajaoba as introduction to the Memorial Lecture.

Welcome cum introductory speech was delivered by S. Bhubon, Managing Trustee, the Ojha Sanajaoba Memorial Trust. He observed that the people of Manipur have never tasted freedom under a military regime and governed by corrupted leaders, who interpret freedom and self-determination in ways that suits them.

Prof. Felix Padel delivering the Memorial Lecture, "Human Rights and Self-Determination as Prerequisites for Real Development" submitted that he never had the opportunity of meeting Late Prof. Naorem Sanajaoba but he knows that the Late Professor was an active upholder of human rights, as well as an academician (a most significant combination) who drew frequent comparisons between the situation in Manipur and in other regions in the world where people are struggling for democracy and greater autonomy in the face of harsh repression.

He further added that the foundation of knowledge is subjectivity in the sense that it all begins from knowing oneself and the situation in which one is thrown into, which together constitutes consciousness. Prof. Sanajaoba's academic pursuits as well as his undeniable role as an activist focused on imparting consciousness to the people of Manipur in the contemporary international context.

Prof. Felix stated that fundamental to the challenges facing people in Manipur, and in so many other similar places, is the question of "what is real development". He stressed that in the name of development, one witnesses promotion of mega dams, extractive industry and infrastructure projects that certainly attract huge sums of money as investment but do not necessarily raise most of the local people's standard of living. What happens at the end is the 'Investment-Forced Displacement' wherein people are displaced and the funding agencies monopolise their natural resources in the name of development.

Prof. Felix observed that if one looks at the needs of the communities, 'the right to development' boils down to food security, water security, security at work and security of livelihoods, right to sensitively managed education and health-care, and every aspect of security to life and dignity. Instead, displacement by a dam or negative impacts of a mining project destroy water and food security, as well as highly developed systems of symbiosis between communities and ecosystems.

As for security of life – it's abundantly clear that security forces brought in to force the implementation of large 'development projects' that do not have local consent commit human rights violations with impunity, including here in Manipur, in the case of the Mapithel Dam and similar projects. Security forces are not trained to safeguard ordinary citizens' security but rather the security of investors, corporations and the vested interests behind such projects.

Prof. Felix observed that Manipur has a long history of abuses by security forces. He cited the recent case at the Supreme Court where the Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi opined that 'Killings are part of the sovereign function discharged by the Union of India through the army' thereby rejecting the Justice Santosh Hegde report, inquiring into the 1,528 extra-judicial killings during 2000-2012 and its finding that numerous people had been killed in false encounters.

He highlighted other well-documented cases of rape, torture, violent harassment and unacknowledged killings of innocent people by security forces in Manipur. He also stressed that the situation in Manipur is different from that of Canada. As different from India's take on the case of Manipur, in Canada, Justin Trudeau, the newly elected Prime Minister of Canada, ordered an inquiry into about 1,200 murdered and disappeared indigenous Canadian women, gives hope as well as a model for 'total renewal' between Government and an indigenous population. This has not happened in India.

He remarked that if atrocities against civilians by men in uniform continue to be committed with impunity in Manipur, is it proper to speak of real development taking place here at all. He interjected that security and respect for human life should be the foundation on which development should take place. Only then one can start talking about people's relationship with the environment and the natural resources which form the basis of life.

Speaking on the issues of dam he concluded that what is needed is an open debate about the real costs and benefits of big dams. Having followed debates on big dams for several decades, it seems that opponents of dams win the debate on every front but that money often speaks louder than words, and that the money coming to governments and politicians from construction and electricity companies has motivated the 'MoU virus' of new deals for big dams. This is relevant in the case of Mapithel Dam, Tipaimukh dam and other dams in Manipur. In short, the Northeast's surplus electricity is intended to fund a new level of India's industrialisation, which is also based on mining and metal production.

Then he spoke on the different models of development. Many hold that industrialization is central to development process. But this idea is extremely pervasive and Charles Darwin's paradigm of evolution in nature has fed into it. The most hardline and influential version is that produced by the World Bank and IMF, who classify countries, and regions within a country, into 'developed', 'developing' and 'under-developed'. One facet of industrialisation in Manipur is oil exploration and extraction. He cited the example of the Indian Government promoting the sale of Manipur's oil deposits over several years and the agreement signed with Netherlands-based Jubilant Oil and Gas Company.

The 30 planned wells are spread through 4,000 sq kms in Jiribam (Imphal East), Tamenglong and Churachandpur districts, and each oil well would be over 2 kms deep. Activists and villagers are well aware of the catastrophic history of oil wells in regions populated by indigenous peoples, especially in Ecuador (also Columbia and Peru), Nigeria and Sudan, where there has been horrendous pollution of water sources and fields, and terrible civil conflicts, which could easily get out of hand in Manipur. A vital question is whether oil legislation passed in India that grants rights over all deposits to the state, or whether the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples will be respected here in insisting on indigenous people's rights over their natural resources.

Prof. Felix observed that from dams to steel, aluminium and nuclear energy, the mainstream development scheme promoted by the World Bank and other financial institutions is oriented to making money from war and conflict. He remarked that Late Prof. Sanajaoba frequently drew attention to what is happening in other countries, to shed light on events in Northeast India. The list includes Afghanistan when the Americans started bombing it in October 2001, Kosovo, Puerto Rico, Burma and East Timor.

Among the countries where indigenous people are facing the worst oppression right now are Werst Papua (Irian Jaya) in Indonesia. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly urgent to discover alternative paradigms of development. Scotland's bid for Independence is watched with interest from Northeast India, and the rising strength of the Scottish National Party.

He concluded that at present we're witnessing the forging of a new model of multi-ethnic, 'democratic federalism' by Kurds in North Syria. This is one of the lesson people in the Northeast can learn. At the same time, indigenous societies and their grounded, slow-paced economies show the way ahead, not just the way of the past. Therefore, real development depends on improvements in people's well-being, which has to be based on food, water and livelihood security and security of life. He ended his lecture with a question, "Shouldn't respect for human rights be taken as the starting point for real development?"

Shri Suvojit Bagchi, the Guest of Honour, as an extension to the Lecture, observed that journalists need to be respected, only then they can perform their duties in a democratic manner. Unless one strengthens the press and provide security, there cannot be democracy so to speak of.

Prof. W. Viswanath, Chief Guest of the function, remarked that Late Professor Sanajaoba was a simple but brilliant teacher, who had the vision for the development of all the peoples in not only Manipur but also in the entire Northeast. The Late Professor was worried about the future of Manipur which was one of the most dynamic civilizations in the region.

He observed that such memorial lecture is beneficial for the younger generation who has to grapple with the reality of self-determination in Manipur and congratulated the organizer of the function. He appreciated Prof. Felix for his wonderful musical talent and also for the remarkable lecture which stressed on knowledge and need to understand subjectively who we are and where we are. Such understanding is relevant across disciplines, and this will help in thinking about the future. This philosophy has to be inculcated in our society then only we can solve our entrenched problems.

Prof. N. Rajmuhan, who presided the function, stated that the Ojha Sanajaoba Memorial Trust was formed on September 10, 2011, keeping in mind and respecting the academic works of Prof. Sanajaoba. Since then the Trust has organised 5(five) memorial lectures including the present one. Leading personalities have presented papers in the memorial lectures. Prof. Sanajaoba was a philosopher, writer and architect of the political physicality of the Northeast. He was also a defender of human rights. He emphasized the need to understand more about the thoughts of Sanajaoba.

The programme continued with the "Protest Rhythms" in which Dr. Alex, Dr. Akhu and Prof. Felix performed dedicating their musical pieces to Late Prof. Sanajaoba. Dr. Alex presented the songs, "Solitary Confinement" and "Helicopter". Dr. Akhu started with his popular number "Qutab Minar", "I want to go to Moscow" and "Home is Burning". Felix accompanied Akhu on his violin.