Staring into the dark abyss

This column is aimed at the Meitei youth. By youth, I, arbitrarily mean people between 20 and 30 years of age. You are the people who can adapt to an ever-changing world and have the power to save Manipur more than the government.

I am not anti-tribal, just pro-Meitei. To claim impartiality would be phoney. It is about the survival of the Meiteis at this time of ethnic political differences and dashing egos in Manipur, which is witnessing an uncertain future.

As it stands, the deadly side of God is evident in the “sixty five years’ devastation” of Manipur beginning from the 15th August 1947, which reveals in the violent underbelly of Manipur beneath the bucolic charm of India, where 206 million cows have more rights than a mere 2.5 million Manipuris.

You have to equip yourself with modern knowledge, ‘transferable skills’ and attitudes required for success. Transferable skills are general skills that can be developed through your experience, which will become valuable in the job you are doing. You learn transferable skills and gain experience from your peers.

At the moment I feel that the peers, who have recently formed the International Manipuri Federation (IMF), are some you can emulate. It is formed by the far-sighted and peace-loving senior Meitei Citizens who now feel that “enough is enough” for the appeasement policy to the intense tribal separatist movements, especially after the recent publication of an exaggerated map of Kukilam in Manipur.

The Meitei youth need an organisation – a single platform to spring from, a formal structure for solidarity. It gives an organisational identity and helps to communicate your position to the audience in a way it resonates, just as the Kuki Students Organisation has just done. I admire their burst of energy to support their kindred tribe.

You need an organisation to air out your views against the possible break-up of Manipur in some form or the other, pending the finalisation of the “Indo-Naga” negotiations as early as March 2013 and to thwart the current Kuki demand of a Kukilam or Zalengam.

You know, and they know you know, that the Kuki map, encompassing two-thirds of Manipur is just a symbolic map, but if a lie is repeated ten times it becomes a truth as time will embroider it. A new map of Nagalim has also appeared taking a chunk of Manipur’s Northern boundary as South Nagalim, which is what the UNC of Manipur is demanding.

These maps are not intended as far-fetched parodies of tribal politics but as that verged on the farcical knockout comedy, which is starting to look alarmingly real life.

The present scenario envisages the possibility of old Manipur being downsized to a mere 1843 sq km of the Imphal Valley in the middle of the Kukilam. That could be just an imagination, but you must not take it lightly. Your silence can mean giving your consent.

As you cannot take history personally much farther than your third year of birth, I have to ask you to take my word for it that the current stretch of Manipur’s history is a quirk of fate – the contentious issue of the merger with India and the tribal demands for separate homelands in this tiny state of Manipur.

The tribal demands are encouraged by the reflections of the laid-back Meiteis, who have been playing subservient inhabitants of Manipur with an appeasement policy of Chingmee-Tammee bhai bhai. It is a good thing provided the other party also responds as Tammee-Chingmee bhai bhai, but they don’t. You are simply regarded as the weakling.

You may be reminded of Nehru’s one-sided Hindi-Chini bhai bhai diplomacy. It was the death of him and caused the loss of Aksai-Chin – 10 per cent of Northern Kashmir.

The Chinese are now calling Northern Arunachal Pradesh their Southern Tibet and as this is an event of high probability the Government of India, having learnt from its past mistakes, is bristling with military hardware at Tezpur, to prevent the repetition of its history.

I have campaigned for peaceful coexistence of all the indigenous peoples of Manipur, suggesting ways such as a ‘Swiss style federation of Manipur’ with equal opportunities in all the tribal districts but they were deemed unacceptable as the tribal political interests were different from those of the Meiteis.

The political situation in Manipur in light of current developments is complex and humongous – a massive problem that has been swept under the carpet by the Meiteis over the past few years. In about four months time there might be an Indo-Naga handshake. Once that is over there will be nothing left for the Meiteis to sweep under the carpet.

It seems, from the tribal points of view, your “lease of land” in Manipur might be up along with “your rented dwellings”. You might not have anywhere to live and might even be forced to sleep in the open grounds in the Kangla Fort.

You must think about the terrible situation that might follow should the Meiteis not defend what is defensible. The jokes are already loafing about in the wide plains of low comedy that most of the Meiteis will be lucky to get a bench seat in the Imphal Park as a memorial.

A little preparation may eliminate the need for repairs later. This simply means to display your conviction by letting people know your stand against the partition of Manipur. This is for you – to sink or swim. A sink or swim situation is one in which you must save yourselves by your own means or else fail. I know a Japanese proverb: “as soon as the stones can swim the leaves will sink”. You are the stones and must choose to swim.

You +1’d this publicly. Un The time has come for you to plough the unpleasant furrow of Meitei nationalism while continuing to make concessions, short of the partition of Manipur, to avoid communal clashes.

You should keep your finger on the pulse with a deadpan half smile. Forget the past history of Manipur and its peoples. Past history is a helpless witness to current history. History is always telling the past through the eyes of the present.

Those were the times but these are the days. The performance skill for you young people is to be able to intercept the current history, which is trying to destroy your home. It is time for the Meitei youth to stop skating on thin ice. Those who stand and wait like a waiter at a table where the main actors are dining only serve as a spectator.

The air of uncertainty that is hanging over Manipur will continue to do so until an “honourable” settlement has been reached between GoI and NSCN (UNC). But what is honourable to them may be the opposite for the Meiteis. It is hard for us not to feel a modicum of concern.

We are now staring into the dark abyss. You must be seen thinking aloud of your disenchantment. As the saying goes, it is not good enough that justice is done; it must be seen to be done. Remaining silent, being fearful of displeasing the opposition that is going to take your land away is faintheartedness. You must confront the hard bargainers to negotiate positions rather than interests. This is called “distributive bargaining”.

You must have the sum of your valour and determination to cruise serenely into victory. You are not like “long-legged flies” loping a spindly path through the political swamp, simply watching and analysing but doing nothing.

You should not leave your destiny at the negotiating table of the Central Government with the Naga-UNC-Kuki. You should be part of it. You should bargain from a strong position so that all the indigenous people live together in harmony in an undivided Manipur.

If you do not stand on a rock hard foundation now, the whole house of cards might come crashing down through your door in the near future. Well prepared is half done?

The writer is based in the UK

Email: imsingh@onetel.com

Website: www.drimsingh.co.uk

13-Jan-2013 / 12:55 AM / Dr Irengbam Mohendra Singh / 1 Comments