Subsuming a smaller tribe : It is about one’s identity
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: November 20 2018 -

It is about identity and the stand of the Aimol Tribe Union should be seen in this context.

It is always the yearning of every community to have its own identity, no matter how small they are.

It is on this basis that the Aimol Tribe Union has cried foul against the decision of the United Naga Council (UNC) to affiliate the Aimol tribe with it.

Just how small the Aimol community is can be gauged from the fact that in the 2001 Census, their population was pegged at 3643.

The number may have gone up in the 2011 Census, but this is besides the point.

What is central to the stand of the Aimol Tribe Union, is their identity and the yearning to live as a distinct entity and not under the umbrella of anyone, the Naga family in this case.

The UNC is a civil society organisation, which is identified with the Nagas of Manipur and in as much as the UNC would like to spread its wings by bringing the Aimols under it wing, the Aimol Tribe Union is not ready to give in without stating their stand.

A smaller community being brought under the umbrella of a bigger community is not something unheard of, but in the process it is important to keep in mind such things as the identity of the group to be merged with a bigger community.

This is where the stand of the Aimol Tribe Union may be understood better.

This is not the first time that the identity of the Aimol tribe has been put to test and just how serious the issue is can be gauged from the fact that lives have already been lost in the recent past over this issue.

This is where the pan Naga approach of the UNC needs a rethink for nothing can be greater than respecting the individual status of each and every community.

Juxtapose the present case with the Manipuri Bishnupriya case some years back when the Meiteis of Manipur staunchly opposed the term Manipuri as a prefix or a suffix to the term Bishnupriya.

In other words, the Meiteis of Manipur made it clear that they are against any move to dilute the identity of Manipuris by tagging it along with another community.

Whether this is a far sighted stand or not is a different matter, but here is a case which runs opposite to the course taken up by the UNC.

It may also be in line to question whether there is a bigger agenda than merely taking in a much, much smaller tribe into the fold of the big Naga family and it is this which is interesting.

Why is the UNC keen or so interested in expanding the Naga family ?

Is there an agenda behind it or is it the keen desire of some Aimol people to actually come under the Naga family ?

Only the UNC can answer this question, but remember the move to affiliate the Aimol tribe with the UNC has not gone down well with the Aimol Tribe Union and there is a reason to believe that the Aimol Tribe Union is the biggest body representing the Aimol people.

The best course of action before all concerned should be to discuss the matter threadbare and come to the point that forcefully merging any community into a larger frame will not exactly do good in the long run.

Moreover it also stands that already too many people have died over this issue and no one would want any round of bloodshed to settle the matter.