Idea of a Manipur : Demystify the myth
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 03 2011 -

Apart from exposing the impotence of the Government, the over 60 days and still continuing economic blockade on the National Highways is also a disturbing commentary on the state of alienation felt by the hill people towards the very idea of a Manipur as a political and social entity.

The United Naga Council has for long made no pretence of its political aspiration for all Naga inhabited areas to come under one administrative unit, Nagalim, an objective that was nurtured and shaped by the NSCN (IM), which runs contrary to the very idea of Manipur.

The Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee has raised a demand which falls within the ambit of the political jurisdiction of the State Government but the fact that the highways have been cut off for over 60 days, over this very demand, raises an open ended question over the very existence of a Manipur.

Of the indigenous people inhabiting the present day Manipur, only the Meiteis seem to be comfortably wedded to the idea of a Manipur and this raises the question of why the idea of Manipur as a political and social entity seems to cut ice with only one community, albeit the majority community.

An earlier editorial on this column had explored the failure of the Meiteis to take along the other people with the idea of a Manipur and the situation today demands that the issue be discussed further.

The very nature of an economic blockade is aimed not only at bringing a Government to its kneel under the weight of the lifelines of an entire people being cut off for a protracted period, but is also aimed at defeating the very idea of the place which the Government claims to represent.

This is the common thread that one can read in the two economic blockades imposed by the UNC and the SHDDC.

The primary target seems to be the idea of a Manipur and by extension it is the people, notably those who stand by this idea of a Manipur as a distinct political and social entity, who stand to suffer.

This has been the hallmark of all economic blockades seen in the State and understanding the factors for the sense of alienation towards the idea of a Manipur may just be the right prescription to diagnose the ailment, which has got everyone by the jugular.

It is in line with this why the slogan Chingtam Amattani has received a boost and why communal harmony or peaceful co-existence has been on the lips of so many people. These slogans will however remain mere slogans or lip service as long as some serious attempts at understanding one another does not materialise.

Why has the term Manipuri not been able to serve as the focal point of identity for many of the hill people ?

Why has it come to be identified only with the Meiteis ?

Certain points need to be set right or reset if Manipur is going to be an idea which appeals equally to all the people, irrespective of whether one is a tribal or a Meitei or a Meitei Pangal.

An appreciation, honest ones at that, of the culture, identity and achievement of each section of the society is called for. The blinkers need to be removed by everyone.

Are the tribals going to remain Haos in the eyes of the Meiteis irrespective of the fact that the first and only Ambassador from the soil of Manipur was a Tangkhul in the person of the late Major Khathing ?

Is the reservation policy, which the tribals of Manipur enjoy, going to be the whip to flog the fact that it was a Kipgen who became the first Chief Secretary of Goa or a Tangkhul man who served as the Chief Secretary of Delhi Administration as well as Goa, before it became a State ?

On the other hand, should the Meiteis be blamed for diverting funds meant for the hill districts, despite the fact that all Tribal Development Ministers have been tribals, save for the current period, when it is being held by the Chief Minister ?

Why should the Meiteis be held responsible for every ills afflicting the tribal people ?

Why turn a blind eye to the swanky, palatial homes of the tribal officers, who made the killing after being posted in the hill districts ?

Or for that matter what has Sadar Hills got to do with the essential commodities of the people ?

Unpleasant and blunt these questions will appear, but this is not the time for sugar coating words.

The time is well at hand to come to grip with the fact that Manipur and her people have been pushed, pulled and shoved for too long to indulge in meaningless talks.

Time to demystify certain myths and the first is the train of thought resting on the superiority of the Meitei people.