Late Prof Sanajaoba's vision, works re-visited at memorial lecture
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 30 2014: The fourth Ojha Sanajaoba Memorial Lecture 2014 was held today at the VC's Court Room, Manipur University, Canchipur.

The Memorial Lecture was organised by the Ojha Sanajaoba Memorial Trust (OSMT) in commemoration of the 69th birth anniversary of Late (Prof.) Naorem Sanajaoba.

Prof..HNandakumar Sharma, Vice Chancellor, Manipur University, Canchipur graced the function as the chief guest and Prof..NLokendra Singh, Registrar, Manipur University, Canchipur was the guest of honour.

Prof..NRajmohan Singh, Department of Chemistry, Manipur University, Canchipur & president OSMT presided the function.

The Memorial Lecture titled, "North East: Common Aspirations - Shared Destiny" was delivered by Prof.(Retd.) Udayon Mishra, National Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla, formerly with the Department of English, Dibrugarh University, and Editor, Social Change.

Resource persons presiding the memorial lecture

S.Bhobon Singh, Managing Trustee, OSMT delivered the welcome cum introductory address.

In the memorial lecture, Prof.Udayon Mishra remarked that Prof.Sanajaoba was one of the most illustrated sons of Manipur who had worked on diverse topics and subjects.

He defined the late Professor as a "Public Intellectual", a term popularized by Julien Benda along with Edward Said.

Prof.Misra also observed that there were numerous kinds of reaction against the works of late Prof.Sanajaoba.

He recalled that one such reaction pertained to the view of the late professor on his take on feudalism and self-determination.

Nevertheless, the person who criticized Prof.Sanajaoba endorsed that he was interested in Sanajoaba as person committed with people's suffering.

But such criticisms are mark of an evolved society and as such the strength of democracy, which lies in the ability to tolerate and accommodate dissents and differences.

He wa one who was not only engaged in theory but was one who respected differences.

The above observation carries relevance in today's North East.

We in Northeast have become so accustomed to violence as compared to other parts of the world.

Precisely, on account of this, he believes this is the time when people in the North East have to introspect the goals of the different movements and the direction where such movements are heading", Prof Mishra said.

In this context, Prof.Misra quoted the introductory remarks of Prof.Temsula Ao in her work, "These Hills Called Home: Stories from a War Zone", who said that the Nagaland story started with high idealism and romantic promises.

"It has ended in disillusionment.

It has become the very thing that have become to be overcome." According to Prof.Misra, she grasps the sordid affairs of "things", which can be generalized in the North East, wherein the tools of oppression are being used to fight violence and ultimately the common people and the innocents bear the brunt of the atrocities.

Prof.Misra said that silence about the silent voices will become very loud someday.

And the collective North East society has reached a stage where one has to differentiate between governance and atrocity.

In spite of such transgressions and violence, Prof.Misra feels that the great thing about the North East region is that it has taught the Indian State how to respect small nationalities and nationalism, which were never a part of India's freedom struggle.

Just as nationality, identity and culture do not remain static, it is worthwhile to note that the North East has reinvented its own heroes and the invention of the same to meke the difference goes on in the region.

In this sense, it is an exciting period of the North East; it is on a rediscovering turn, to find its own hero by going back in time and discovering the same.

This is something which the Indian nation-state has ultimately acknowledged despite its repressive acts, Prof Udayon averred.

The very idea of self-determination needs to be relooked at, perhaps by looking at what is happening in the international context.

These were the same issues raised by Sanajaoba and it is of relevance today.

Many of the international community cannot be trusted, specially the United States of America, specially after the 9/11 episode.

For example, US has backtracked on self-determination and the same understanding implies and stands for cultural autonomy.

But it needs to be reiterated that self-determination subsumes autonomy; in the rights over the use of resources and land.

These indeed are the common issues of Northeast.

These needs to be challenged and ascertained, he observed.

In spite of the order of things, Prof.Misra is of the opinion that the people of the North East has to assert today without repeating tales of sorrow.

The region as a whole has every right to be part of development, autonomy and others.

In addition to the issues raised above, Prof.Misra added three more core issues.

First, in the name of tackling insurgency the Indian State has created political spaces.

Such political spaces have excluded people from participation and created a sense of inequality.

These political spaces, for example, the creation of ethnic homeland (sic.

Bodoland, which is highly heterogenous) have excluded the smaller nationalities.

At the same time, right from the beginning the non-state armed groups have never had clear cut vision of an idea of homeland.

For instance, ULFA could not work out the issues involving small nationalities precisely because they never had a structured outlay.

Second issue pertains to the conflict between traditional structures of power and representative form of democracy; both runs in parallel in the North East region.

According to Prof.Misra, democratic representation deals with individual rights.

Nowadays, people talk of consensual democracy.

Hwever, it needs to be under scored that there cannot be absolute consensus in democracy; there has to be elements of disagreement and dissent.

What one needs to understand is that one cannot be too idealistic about the past and glorify them in such idealistic heights as it is happening today.

The times of the kings and rajas are past, precisely because modern politics in the form of representation demands individual space and rights.

Take for instance, the traditional structure of power were very mean towards women.

As such women did not enjoy any form of rights in the sense of freedom and liberty.

Thus, what is needed today is the democratization of traditional structures.

Prof.Misra concluded with a quotation from William Shakespeare, " The fault does not lie in our stars.

It's because we're weak.".

It means that the North East simply has to assert � be it for autonomy or use of its land and control over resources.

Prof.Soyam Lokendrajit, Head, Department of Philosophy, Manipur University, Canchipur gave the observatory remarks to the Memorial Lecture.

In his opinion, neo-liberalism has killed the revolutionary instincts and the material conditions of revolution.

He accepted the views shared by Prof.Misra's lecture and said that these are the greatest moments of uncertainty for revolutionary moments across the world.

He also expressed his concern about the regimented kind of culture prevailing in the North East in terms of debate on identity, autonomy, etc.

where in both the state and non-state actors remain closed-door.

In spite of the high ideals held by both on freedom, both continues to rampantly transgressing the same today.

In conclusion he remarked that all communities in the North East have to work towards a common destiny guided by common aspirations.

Prof..NLokendra Singh, who was the guest of honour of the function remarked that Ojha Sanajaoba as many of us know was an extremely well-read, widely-travelled and as Prof.Misra has remarked, he was a public intellectual, who had responded to the issues in Northeast India, across the globe and particularly in Manipur for the downtrodden and working community.

He submitted that the middle class of the North East India has done their job after post-independence period and was responsible for the successful democratization of polity in the North East region.

Prof, H.Nandakumar remarked that Prof.Misra had highlighted the common aspirations of the North East and the need for a shared destiny.

According to him, late Prof.Sanajaoba was an international humanitarian who wrote volumes of literatures on the violation of human rights and about the oppressed and downtrodden people of the North East by outsiders.

He observed that of late as against media projections and announcements made by the administrators, human rights violations in the region have escalated.

More revelations are coming forth on fake encounters and enforced disappearances.

He feels that man has been reduced to a mere number, a mere statistics without any value.

He stressed that the time has come for all to be united and tell the administrators and armed forces to respect the value of human beings and refrain from indiscriminate killing .

Prof..NRajmuhon recalled Prof..NSanajaoba as a great visionary who always propagated and popularized the inevitable necessity of having common aspirations for the co-existing communities in the North East region.

The memorial lecture ended with a vote of thanks proposed by Dr.Malem Ningthouja, Senior Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla.