Letter to Manipur

Augustine Kshetrimayum *

Dear Manipur,

A few months ago I found an article with a similar heading by Mr. Arindam Chaudhury. I am not a fan of him and I don't know much about him except for that article and that he is a very renowned management guru. But then it served the purpose and I thought of using this means to communicate with my people in Manipur.

So here it goes. I have been constantly following the recent outbreak in Manipur following the Chandel 'incident'. And it burns my heart to see how the momentum of the whole incident has gained a communal flavour. I am writing this because I have become frightful of the situation and it seriously concerns me as it should any citizen of Manipur.

The present sequence of events is nothing more than a symptom of a tumour that was developed long ago, a sickness that would trace back to our past history. It has been boiling for years and it is only natural that it would erupt someday. This tumour that had otherwise remained harmless and silent is now developing into a cancer. A cancer that has started killing our society and we are the living witness. Rather than trying to treat the symptoms or even suppressing it, maybe we can try looking into the cause of the illness.

Well, first of all I share the plight of my brothers in the hills. In fact they have been very honest. It is quiet true that the Nagas and the tribal of Manipur in general were never treated properly by certain sections of the Meiteis (an after-effect of the sanskritization process in the valley). The treatment that was meted out to these people was against humanity and unfair. I still remember some accounts of how the tribal communities were not allowed to enter 'Meitei' household, how they were considered as untouchables and many other miscellaneous malign practices. Still now, uses of word like 'H**' (which many people still do) to refer the tribal is highly obnoxious.

Although the word 'Hao' is nothing derogative in meaning (The Tangkhuls are regarded to originate from the 'Hao' city of China now known as Xian - 'History of the Tangkhul Nagas' by A.S.W. Shimray, Encyclopaedia of Manipur, Vol-3 by Khomdang Singh ) and many people use it without any intention to cause hurt, I know how it feels. It is the not the word that matters but the feeling of isolation you give to these people when you refer them like that. I have lived in Delhi for 5 years and I know how it feels to be called a 'c*****'. It is nothing disparaging I know that, but you just don't like it. And when many people don't like it, it becomes a wrong thing.

I am not an anthropologist or any historian to be digging into the details. But maybe this is the first thing we should be aware of. How can we complain about racism in the country when it is there in our own state? Maybe the State government should seriously address this issue and ban use of such words just like the central government did. I do doubt the potency of such a measure but at least it will give our brothers in the hills a chance to think that we are making some efforts.

All said. I do have a series of appeals to my brothers in the hills. The past may have not been perfect. And that is not something which we are proud of. But then things have changed now. You know those as well as we do. What is the point of forcing oneself to live submersed under those muddy pools of the past? Remember those ill treatments meted out to the Indians by the British during their rule? Will it make sense for India to declare war against Great Britain now? Remember those ill-treatments meted out to the Manipuris by the Bangla Hindu missioneries during the reign of king Garibniwaj in the 18th century? Will it make sense for us now to declare war/agitation against them? Isn't it time we make peace with our past? Isn't it time we start living for a greater cause? Don't you see that we have a common enemy and a greater cause to fight against? Does it make sense to keep on hurting each other while the brutal laughter of racism, crimes against woman, inhuman laws, terrorism, etc grows louder and louder? Don't you realise that it is not about the meiteis against the nagas or the nagas against the kukis? It is about fighting against our own self, fighting against our corrupted leaders, fighting against our ignorance, fighting against social crimes.

Don't you think that the Meiteis have suffered long enough as well? They have tolerated month long economic blockades. They said nothing. They have been constantly working to maintain the state integrity. They complained nothing. They are shouting at every national platform against AFSPA, an act that affects not just the Meiteis. They are working against racial discrimination in other Indian cities. They look tired and wounded. Don't you want to take a closer look at their face and see how hurt and sad they are. Maybe their patience has run out. Don't you think it is time you show some solidarity with these people? Do you think a molester like Mr. Livingstone is worth all this fight for? A criminal such as him who has no respect for woman or society is injurious to any community.

Dear people in the Valley, the unfortunate incident that took place in Chandel was there for all of us to see. It was not a crime against one person but a crime against woman, a crime against humanity. But then we should be very careful in addressing this issue. Why blame the whole community for an act of one and provoke other people? Don't you think it is our responsibility to control these trigger happy communal minded people spreading fear and creating misunderstandings everywhere?

Now, I happen to be a student of Physics and I never doubt the laws of the Universe that every change or incident taking place in the Universe is meant to increase stability in the Universe. Like a marble rolling down from an inclined plane and stopping only where it is most peaceful and stable, this incident should not lead to Chaos. The Chandel incident should not have happened at all. But we can't change that. Can we? But what this incident will lead to is certainly in our hands.

Dear Manipur, we are on a crossroad today. Today we decide what our children will be reading in their history books. Do we want to remember this incident as the trigger that caused communal violence and shame to our state or do we want it to be the harbinger of a new era. An era marked with trust and respect for each community. I am not saying that this will happen instantly or we will start feeding strawberries into each other's mouth. But don't you want to seize this opportunity and don't you think it will be worth a try?

Dear Manipur today is clearly a day we test ourselves. Today is the day we prove to the rest of the country that we are more civilized. Today we prove that we are a better human. Today is the day we tell our people that freedom, justice and equality are more than just words, they are the perspectives of life. Today we decide our future. Today we start not to hate. Today we pray.