Even as the Integrity Month organized by the Campaign Co-ordination Committee, a joint body of AMSU, AMKIL and NIPCO kicked off at the Central Hall of DM College of Science on September 21, there are certain questions that everyone, who claims themselves to a be blue blooded Manipuris, should start asking themselves now. Why has integrity or more particularly emotional integrity suddenly become the catch word of so many voluntary organizations from the UCM to AMUCO to AMSU?
Was there no concept of emotional integrity before the demand of a Greater Nagaland or Nagalim raised by the NSCN (IM) became a reality? Would there be no efforts to cement the ties between the different communities residing in Manipur if there were no threats to the territorial integrity of Manipur? Why has the term cease fire extension come to mean so much to the people of Manipur? Why has the concept of Naga Nationhood suddenly come to pose a threat to the territorial integrity of Manipur? We may also ask whether the demands that all Nagas should come under one administrative unit is dictated by the sincere desire to unite the Naga people or is indicative of the point that the NSCN (IM) is willing to climb down a rung or two from their earlier stand of absolute sovereignty.
It is against the backdrop of these questions that the campaign for the integrity of Manipur should be carried out and yes efforts should be made to come to logical answers to the questions posed above. And when we talk about the territorial integrity of Manipur can the role of the Government be given the short shrift? Yes, we know a Special Session of the Assembly has already been convened to put our case to the Center effectively, but is this the be all and end all? Will putting our case to New Delhi effectively ensure that the territory of Manipur would not be compromised? We may also question whether it will serve any purpose if the Nagas and Meiteis continue to live under one administrative unit in mutual distrust and hatred.
For the past few years, especially after the aspirations of the NSCN (IM) for a Greater Lim became clear, integrity, be it territorial integrity or emotional integrity, has been one of the most used vocabularies and it is time we really try to understand what integrity should entail and what it is all about. As the majority community, it is only expected that the onus of ensuring emotional integrity amongst the communities residing in Manipur should fall on the Meiteis and to do this the majority community will have to first shed off its jingoistic outlook.
Respect for the tradition and culture of others should not be shown only during seminars or symposium or during any social interaction but should be ingrained in the minds of all. It is our firm belief that the first lesson to protect the integrity and ties between the different communities residing in Manipur should start from the home.
Even as civil societies and student bodies like AMSU, AMKIL, NIPCO, AMUCO etc have taken up the process of providing the healing touch, it is imperative that each one of us as parents, elders, brothers and sisters teach the youngsters the value of respecting the mores and traditions of the other communities especially the hill people. And of course it
is time we also give a quiet burial to many of the pre-conceived notions which our elders of yesteryears still cling to.
As the old saying goes, little drops of rain make the mighty oceans; it is the little act that counts. It is not only the question of unequal development and deprivation that is tearing at the social fabric of the Manipuri society but the feeling that certain communities have been humiliated and slighted by the majority
community.
We have to sincerely address this point if the word integrity is to have any substantial meaning. The hill people too, particularly the Nagas should have the moral strength to admit that the blood ties between the Meiteis and the Nagas run deep and the question of breaking up the territorial integrity of Manipur will not serve them any positive purpose.
(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)
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