-Wahengbam Pathou
Contd from previous issue
One can hardly miss the fact that Quit Gaddi movement provided effective prelude and pretext for abolition of monarchy, reduce legitimacy for continuance of age old Meitei kingship in body politics and worst of all, it came as too handy a tool and quite effective an instrument for that Bengali blackmailer P.C. Dasgupta (one time Superintendent of Police for Manipur), to iniquitously tantalize Maharaja Bodh Chandra in Shillong Red Lands on 19 September, 1949 in order to wilt him to sign the merger agreement, this sordid episode will be dealt with later on
A character analysis of the quartet of Dwijamani Dev Sharma, Sinam Krishnamohon, Ngangom Tompok and Elangbam Tompok assume significance in great degree for; these were the very men who were influence wielding characters, albeit not enough to command the majority’s voice and represent the pulse of the people, but quite substantial enough to turn around and shape course of Manipur’s history in 1949. No doubt, they were resourceful men who possessed enough wealth and learning to engage in behind the scene political intrigues, manoeuvring, machinations and manipulations to destabilize Manipur, in the run up to merger by orchestrating the charade of Quit Gaddi campaign. Character analysis of prominent quisling politicians who deplorably dealt a body blow to Manipur’s political fabric in 1949 is long overdue. These repugnant characters were historical figures in their own right, as they lived on the soil of Manipur. It is about time an analysis is made about them, putting their sinful acts under lens of scrutiny and brought forward for public examination and reading. The quartet of these Congress leaders, with inflated egos, thought of themselves as larger than life figures, who almost impulsively and temperamentally felt that it was too belittling for them to continue to live under monarchical dispensation. And hence, they took it on their stride to just obliterate the monarchy in Manipur to satisfy their ego on the surface and meanwhile, quite underhandedly, their wishful thinking was that merger would leave the field wide open for them throwing a sea of opportunity to willfully exploit upon satiating their power mongering desires. (No doubt, there was another quisling and his name was Lalit Madhop Sharma, who is not dealt with for the time being but will certainly be put under scanner later. The Meitei tongue seems to have difficulty in pronouncing this Brahmin’s name. Quite funnily, in common parlance the name Lalit Madhop is pronounced in its feminine variant i.e. Lalita Madhop)
Of Hidangmayum Dwijamani Dev Sharma (born 1902), it is said he was the first in Manipur to earn degree of Master of Arts. He is said to have completed his post graduate degree in Sanskrit from the University of Calcutta in 1927. An imperious and haughty Brahmin, Khwai Brahmapur resident urban-folk; he was a thoroughly discredited Congressman who did not represent a shred of people’s pulse but masqueraded himself to be representing such. Quite nefariously, he self imposed himself as representing the voice of Manipur when he hobnobbed with All India Congress Committee (A.I.C.C.) high command along with Sinam Krishnamohon, the President, Manipur State Congress in July-August, 1949 and came back to engineer the unscrupulous, fraudulent and dishonest infamy-rousing Congress meeting at Rupmahal tank on 3 August, 1949. Dwijamani Dev Sharma did not attend the 3 August, 1949 Rupmahal meeting himself but it is all too clear he was the driving force/force majeure behind the meeting for he along with his acolyte Sinam Krishnamohon went all the way to Delhi and return back to Imphal to spread the patently brazen falsehood that they has obtained the mandate from the then A.I.C.C. President B. Pattavi Sittaramaya to declare the Manipur Gaddi null and void. (When irate crowds gathered at Rupmahal premises pointedly confronted the self-styled Manipur State Congress leaders to produce the written assurances from Delhi, they could not do so making their purported attempt utter lies, deceit and subterfuge played on the people.)
Without a doubt, Dwijamani Dev Sharma was a frontrunner, pied-piper quisling who, while doing everything to satisfy his inflated personal ego, unmade Manipur in 1949. Given his diabolical deeds, it is not wrong for one deem that Dwijamani Dev Sharma considered of himself an exalted Brahmin, who just egoistically thought of himself as he was the chosen Brahmin, ordained by providence, as the one who should occupy the top ladder in all forms of hierarchy in power structure. And that he being the first M.A. in Manipur should lead the State while others should follow him. Given his fiendish and atrocious character, he considered the rest of the population as lesser animals who he should lead over and they, in turn, should do as was told and directed by him. Many unfortunate incidents were associated with the life of this imperious Brahmin that leaves permanent scar in the life and psyche of the people of Manipur. His deep seated malice and hatred towards Maharaja Bodh Chandra and his younger brother Capt. M.K. Priya Brata is well known. He does not spare Dowager Queen Maharani Dhanamanjuri, either, in his acerbically venomous tirade when one goes through a reading his autobiography booklet, entitled My Reminiscences originally written in vernacular and translated into English by Ch. Manihar. Blinded by his hatred and despise of well renown personalities of royalty from Maharaja Bodh Chandra to Capt. M.K. Priya Brata and Maharani Dhanamanjuri to R.K. Bhaskar, popularly known as Samkha Bhaskor Manisana, son of Raja Dumbhra, elder brother of Churachand Maharaj. Out and out, his autobiography cuts a sorry figure, is despicably in poor taste given his distasteful badmouth against the prominent individuals mentioned above just to vent his frustrated ego and ire out.
Quite ridiculously, Dwijamani Dev Sharma’s autobiography is not limited to a phenomenon of one time Congressman (in the year 1949, to be precise) spewing venom against royalty. It acquires an utterly poor taste tenor one sided self-congratulatory, self-reverential and heavily-biased self-eulogy as one goes through it from cover to cover. He describes of himself as the originator of well known educational institutes such as D.M. College and Ramlal Paul School. With sheer arrogance, he portrays himself as the credit worthy being while portraying Maharaja Bodh Chandra, Capt. M.K. Priya Brata and Maharani Dhanamanjuri in the most negative light possible. In other words, he seeks to self eulogize himself as the person to whom due share of credit is ascribable while royal family benefactors deserve nothing. To sum it all, Dwijamani Dev Sharma’s highly vicious and unbecoming rhetoric against Maharaja Bodh Chandra, Capt. M.K. Priya Brata and Maharani Dhanamanjuri can only be expected from a lowly-life arrogant scum of a man which he was in his lifetime. Meanwhile, in so far as Dwijamani Dev Sharma’s educational attainment’s is concerned, he is said to have passed M.A. in Sanskrit from Calcutta University in 1927, but quite intriguingly it is not mentioned when he graduated although he mentions in his autobiography that he attended Cotton College of Gauhati. He was in fourth year of Cotton College in 1925 when Sinam Krishnamohon (his buddy mate, albeit younger in age and partner in crime in political manoeuvring for abolition of monarchy) joined the Gauhati college to prosecute his studies for the initial year. But it stops short of mentioning the year when Dwijamani Dev Sharma graduated. (See My Reminiscences by H. Dwijamani Dev Sarma, translated by Ch. Manihar Singh, self-publication, imphal 1986)
He is a matriculate of 1922 batch and five years he became an M.A. Sanskrit in 1927 but what are the records in between. So the nagging question remains Matriculate of 1922 and M.A. of 1927 but I.A./I.Sc., if applicable when, B.A./B.Sc. when, from which institute and what year. Go search Cotton College records when his autobiography and birth anniversary writers N. Nilabir Shastri, B. Jayentakumar Sharma and brief biographical sketch does not furnish the answer. (I.A. denotes Intermediate of Arts and I. Sc. denote Intermediate of Science.) The issue of Dwijamani Dev Sharma’s autobiography and other aspects of his political career will be dealt later on. Meanwhile lens of focus will be brought to others members of quisling squad viz. remaining trio of Sinam Krishnamohon, Ngangom Tompok and Elangbam Tompok.
About Sinam Krishnamohon, he was about the same age (or say, some years younger to) Hidangmayum Dwijamani Dev Sharma and both of them were known to be best of friends. A reading of Sharma’s autobiography establishes, as mentioned earlier, Sinam Krishnamohon was four years junior to Sharma in Cotton College circa 1925. However, it needs be admitted that the wily Brahmin was a far cleverer and shrewder character than S. Krishnamohon in political life and he allowed himself to be used as a sidekick foil by the calculative Brahmin to realize the other man’s crafty political agenda, dark ambitions and goals.
To be contd