Governing Manipur whole Sustainable development, civic identity, and the courage to choose unity

Chongboi Haokip, MCIHort
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others (Romans 12:4-5).
Manipur is a State of many ethnic communities, each with its own identity, history, and knowledge. Yet, like the body described in Romans, the strength of the State lies in how these diverse members work together, share responsibility, and build a future for all.
It is good to see inclusivity through ethnic horizon, however, I am beginning to be concerned if it is beyond control, as we may miss out the capable ones who can serve or contribute to Manipur as a whole, irrespective of their ethnic background. As a professional on sustainable development, I view from holistic point and would share my thoughts.
Just about development is not lasting, it needs to be sustainable. It is more than infrastructure or funding — it is the creation of political, social, institutional, and ecological foundations that allow each generation to inherit a stronger and more cohesive society.
The question every citizen of Manipur must ask ourselves ?
The question every citizen of Manipur must ask ourselves – who is the Government working for ? Are we all representing a Manipuri society ? It’s concerning, if the Ministers in the governing body are based on total ethnicity based, and if the people, cannot put themselves as Manipuri first.
Who will not agree - Manipur is a State, with its rich cultural diversity and human potential, faces a critical juncture? Would you agree - its people have the resilience and capacity to thrive, yet unfortunately, ethnic-based political divisions fragment development and limit long-term progress ? The way forward lies in changing of heart and thoughts - reimagining governance to harness diversity as a source of shared strength and sustainable collective advancement, but not based on ethnicity.
In a healthy democracy, the answer should be straightforward — it works for the State, and for all its people. When that answer becomes complicated, when it fractures into ‘it works for my community’ and &‘it works for theirs’ something more than political cohesion is lost. The possibility of sustainable development itself begins to erode, because sustainable development — by its very nature — cannot be built community by community, bloc by bloc, in parallel and in competition. It must be built together, or it will not hold.
A Whole State Is a Prerequisite, Not a Preference
Territorial and civic unity in Manipur is not just a matter of sentiment but a developmental imperative. Positioned at a strategically vital crossroads — bordering Myanmar and serving as a gateway to Southeast Asia — Manipur holds unique potential as a key link in India’s Act East Policy. Seen as a whole, its geographic location makes cohesion essential for realising its broader economic and geopolitical promise. Its hills and valley form an ecological and economic system of genuine complementarity. Its biodiversity, cultural richness exists in a density that would be the envy of regions many times its size. Its educated young population represents human capital of real and growing consequence.
Holistic sustainable development in Manipur depends on systemic integration, linking markets, managing watersheds, and connecting to broader trade. Do we think fragmenting the State would help these interdependencies, creating sound economy, investment independent of the Centre and able to sustain the complementarities that make the whole viable  ? It’s time for Manipur to pursue economic self-reliance and position itself as a meaningful contributor to the Nation’s Gross Domestic Product in due course.
The ecological and economic interdependence of Manipur’s hills and valley is central to its future, and sustainable development requires respecting this foundation rather than undermining it for ethnic convenience.
Governance for the Whole : Capability Over Community
Holistic development also demands a particular kind of governance — one oriented toward the long term, toward genuine need, and toward the whole State rather than toward the next election cycle or the next communal negotiation. This is precisely what Manipur’s current political culture makes difficult.
In Manipur, Ministers are meant to serve the entire State, with portfolios benefiting all citizens. Yet political culture often prioritizes ethnic representation over competence, resulting in governance that appears diverse on paper but, in practice, manages resources communally — Ministers are accountable to their communities’ share rather than the overall growth and sustainability of the State.
Personally, I am concerned if the Ministership allocations are based on ethnicity. Will we be able to sustain in the long run, or cause more chaos or more divisions ? Another pressing concern is that troublemakers seem rewarded while law-abiding citizens face continued disadvantages.
Multi Ethnic Communities, Each a Strand in the Whole
Holistic sustainable development demands that every ethnic communities need to be included. Would you agree - with more than thirty distinct tribes and communities —each carrying unique languages, ecological knowledge, and cultural traditions—Manipur’s diversity cannot be meaningfully reduced to a trio-ethnic framework, when the term “Kuki” was a colonial administrative label used for convenience - one that Thadou people, like myself, do not accept as reflecting our true identity, a view shared by the Mizos and Zomis. Such simplification not only overlooks this rich complexity but risks distorting representation and undermining equitable progress.
Case study: The Thadous are one clear illustration. Formally recorded as a distinct ethnic community since the 1881 census, recognised as a Scheduled Tribe since 1956, the Thadou possess their own language, literature, cultural patterns, and deep knowledge of the landscapes they inhabit. As affirmed by the Thadou Convention in Guwahati in 2024, the Thadou are not Kuki, not underneath Kuki, not part of Kuki — but a separate, independent people. In my view, when they are absorbed into a larger political umbrella without their consent, their specific knowledge, their specific needs, and their specific voice in development planning disappear. The same is true of the Hmar, the Zomis, and every other community whose identity and ecological knowledge the trio-ethnic framework renders invisible.
Holistic sustainable development thrives on participation, requiring dialogue with communities at all levels rather than top-down negotiations, and prioritising local needs, knowledge, and collaborative, lasting solutions.
The Leaders Who Are Already Walking the Path
Amid systemic challenges, Meitei and Thadou leaders have embraced dialogue and mutual respect, built the trust and understood essential for lasting peace — foundations that policies alone cannot create – achieving peace and harmony through “community understanding”.
This is not a small thing. It is, in fact, the most important kind of development work — social capital formation, the slow and painstaking construction of the trust without which no other development can hold.. All of these require, at their base, a degree of shared civic commitment — the belief that the institution serves us all and therefore belongs to us all. The said community leaders who have chosen dialogue are building exactly that foundation, and other communities are watching and beginning to follow.
Their example carries a developmental lesson as much as a political one. Holistic sustainable development is not delivered to communities. It is built by them, in relationship with each other, through the kind of trust that only emerges when people choose, repeatedly and against the easy alternative, to see each other as fellow stakeholders in a shared future.
The Civic Manipuri as the Condition for Sustainable Development
Manipur’s sustainable development requires the rise of the Civic Manipuri — someone who embraces their ethnic identity with pride but also a shared responsibility for the whole State. They recognise that the well-being of every Manipuri, the prosperity of farmers, and the quality of schools everywhere affect everyone, understanding that the State’s collective future depends on interconnected care and cooperation.
This civic identity cannot be decreed. Let’s be clear - Is our goal to achieve true and lasting peace, along with sustainable development ? Could it be achieved through ethnic power-sharing alone - absolutely not?
Reflection – the path forward!
Congratulations to the Meitei and Thadou leaders who have chosen mutual community understanding; they are not merely contributing to peace and harmony!
They are laying the social foundation without which no development will be sustainable. They are showing that distinct communities with real histories can choose a shared future — and that in choosing it, they do not diminish themselves.
They become, together, the Manipur that was always possible. That Manipur — whole, capable, plural, and building — is worth every difficulty of the path toward it. And it begins with the insistence that when a Minister takes their oath, he or she takes it for all of us, and when a community leader extends his hand across a divide, he are doing the most important development work of all.
What we need is a thriving Manipuri society, when supported by integrated planning, inclusive governance, shared education, and leadership that unites rather than divides. When citizens unite under a shared Manipuri identity, when communities share stakes, institutions are fair, long-term progress in Manipur is possible.
Statement: I do not support illicit poppy cultivation. I support sustainable alternatives that strengthen society and help affected farmers in Manipur. I stand firmly behind the Manipur Government’s ‘War on Drugs’ campaign. As a strong, united community, we must work alongside Govt agencies that are helping farmers abandon illegal poppy farming. We, the people of Manipur, can eliminate unlawful poppy cultivation through collective effort. I call upon the entire Manipur community to unite as one team in this fight against illegal cultivation of poppy, working together to create sustainable livelihoods and a healthier future for all.
Chongboi Haokip, MCIHort, is an international development consul- tant specialising in agriculture, horticulture, trade facilitation and sustainable development. Join me on X @ChongboiUK and on Instagram @chongboiuk.