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Why has integrity, be it emotional integrity or territorial integrity, come to mean so much to the people of Manipur, particularly the majority Meiteis, during the last few years? Why have so many civil societies come to the forefront espousing the cause of brotherly co-existence and fraternal ties between the different communities residing in Manipur?
And why has there been a spurt in the number of public discussion, seminar, meet etc to promote communal harmony and peaceful co-existence? More significantly will holding such meet, seminar, public discussion etc strengthen the fraternal ties between the different communities living here or will it prove to be just another vain exercise?
Will the concept of integrity not catch the imagination of the people if there was no threat to the territorial integrity of Manipur? Is integrity or brotherly co-existence an age old practice that was handed down to us by our fore fathers or is it some new line of thoughts conjured by the current generation to protect the people and the land ? We ask these questions today because the theme and concept of integrity has come to mean so much especially in the backdrop of the demands raised by certain organizations that all Naga inhabited areas should be brought together under one administrative umbrella.
We may also ask why some Naga organizations or to be more specific the NSCN (IM) has come up with the idea of a Greater Nagaland of Nagalim now? Is the demand or concept of a Greater Lim a brain child of the Isak-Muivah leadership or was the Naga underground movement conceived by the desire to bring all the Nagas under one administrative unit?
Even today all the Naga underground organizations draw their sustenance from the memorandum submitted to the Simon Commission in 1929 and Plebiscite of 1951. We may not be far off the mark if we say that these two momentous dates in the history of Nagaland had no question about bringing all the Naga people under one administrative unit.
So even as integrity campaigns are on in full swing, the people of Manipur need to ask the question why the demand for integrating all the Nagas under one administrative unit should be raised now. And in asking this question it would do good for the people to be prepared to face some uncomfortable questions. Is it a question of a deep rooted feeling of exploitation, humiliation and economic deprivation or is the demand dictated by sheer political exigencies where Manipur should be at the receiving end?
If it is the former case then yes the people of Manipur especially the political class and the suited booted ones and those caught in a time warp should start introspecting seriously and sincerely. But if it is the latter case then the designs have to be met with firmly and staunchly by the people. We may also ask the question whether New Delhi sowed the seeds of distrust and communal tension in Manipur or we allowed ourselves to be drawn into such a situation.
Whatever the case, the time is more than ripe for all of us to realize that if integrity is to be achieved then a social revolution has to be set into motion. Old beliefs and misconception have to be thrown out of the window. Jingoism, which is worn on the cuffs and displayed so haughtily by the majority community need to be given a quiet burial. Remember we are not only talking about this community and that community but about the future of Manipur.
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