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NSCN (I-M)
and Government of India Peace Talks
By Lt. Col. H. Bhuban Singh (Retd.)
In the chequered history of the erstwhile Kingdom of Manipur, her territory extended upto Mandalay (Myanmar), Cachar and Goalpara (Assam), etc. The northern boundary of the Kingdom was put as Dhunsiri River (Assam) by Alexander Mackenzie in his book, "The North Eastern Frontier of India". In the same book it was even proposed to make over Sadiya Frontier to Manipur as a defense against Burma. In Kohima, there was a stone imprint of the right foot of Maharaja Gambhir Singh (circa 1832) to commemorate his visit. During Maharaja Gambhir Singh's time, the Kingdom of Manipur extended up to Dhunsari River in the north, Chindwin River (Myanmar) in the east and Cachar in the west, and was about three times bigger than the present Manipur.
Kabaw or Kubo valley having an area of approximately 8000 sq.kms. lying between the present day Manipur and Chindwin river (Ningthee in Manipuri) was made over to the King of Ava-Burma) by the British (vide Agreement regarding Kubo valley dated 9th Jan. 1834). This valley was part of Manipur by right of conquest after Gambhir Singh helped East India Company to defeat the King of Ava in the first Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26). To assuage the hurt feelings of the Manipur Maharaja for loss of Kubo Valley, the Supreme Government (The British Government of East India Company) agreed to pay five hundred Sicca Rupees per month to the Rajah of Munnipore. Payment of compensation was to stop when the valley reverts to Munnipore. The Dominion Government of India, as successor to the lapsed British Government after 1947 continued to pay Rs.6000 per annum to the Maharaja of Manipur. Pandit Nehru, the Indian Prime Minister visited Manipur in 1953 and transferred Kabaw Valley permanently to Burma. From that moment, payment of compensation also stopped. Today, the younger generation of Manipuris considered the action of Pandit Nehru as betrayal.
The size of the Kingdom of Manipur got lesser and lesser by various agreements and by other actions of the Supreme Government till the present size was recognized during the reign of Maharaja Chandrakriti Singh 91850-1886). This same State got merged into India on 15th October 1949. The above history is retold for general information of mainland Indians and to remind us of the past connections between Manipur and her neighboring hill areas. Tiny Manipur with a population of 22 lakhs made India proud by winning many international gold medals in the field of games and sports. In National Games, Manipur was sometimes the overall champion State or occupy very high ranking. Manipur's contribution in the field of arts and culture is well known.
Now, there is an atmosphere of tension in Manipur regarding her territorial integrity. This has come about by the persistent demand made by NSCN (I-M) to bring all Naga inhabited areas under one administrative unit, which virtually means the merger of some districts of Manipur into Nagaland. There is nothing wrong in this, provided the Manipuri Nagas are close to the Nagaland Nagas. But they are not. The Tangkhuls of Manipur are a tribe, the Koms of Manipur are a tribe, the Lothas of Nagaland are a tribe, the Semas of Nagaland are a tribe, but they are all different tribes. According to my knowledge, there is no tribe or community called Naga. The term Naga (derived from the Hindi word nanga or naked) was used by the plains Assamese while referring to the semi-naked people of the hills who came down to purchase salt, oil, clothes, etc. It is just like our calling the scarcely clad sadhus as Naga sadhus who used to come in large numbers of Kumbh Mela, etc. The Naga sadhus have no connection with the Nagas of Nagaland. Ipray that our Naga brothers and sisters won't feel offended by my plain speaking.
After all, every one of us in the history of human evolution was naked or semi-naked. The British created Naga Hills District of undivided Assam just to put some of the tribes colloquially called Nagas together. Therefore, Nagas is the creation of Imperial British and it does not refer to any community or tribe. It is just like the Meiteis (plains Manipuris) calling all outsiders as mayangs in Manipur without specifying any community. To a Meitei, Bihari is a mayang, a Bengali a mayang, a Rajasthani a mayang, etc. There is no community called mayang. Similarly, to a North Indian, anybody from Southern India is a madrasi whether he is a Malayalee or a Konkani or a Tamil, etc. there is no community called madrasi. Similarly, there is no tribe or community called Naga.
When the British created Naga Hills District as part of Assam, official work was conducted in Assamese since lower ranking officials were mainly Assamese and there was no common Naga language. In due course of time, Assamese and Hindi, got developed and became the only communicable language between the different tribes of Naga Hills District. I am saying this with my utmost respect for Nagamese. I hope Nagamese language will bind all tribes and researchers tell me that Meiteilon (Manipuri language) had got developed by mixing all tribal dialects.
Culturally, linguistically and ethnically, a Tangkhul (Muivah's tribe) of Manipur is quite a stranger to a Sema of Nagaland. Likewise, Tangkhuls have no cultural link or linguistic affinity to a Lotha of Nagaland or to a Konyak of Nagaland. But on the other hand, Tangkhuls are very close to Meiteis in regard to blood relation, language, culture and tradition. Legend says that the ancestor Tangkhul and ancestor Meitei were brothers. On the occasion of the marriage of the daughter of the younger Meitei brother, he invited his elder Tangkhul brother to attend the marriage. The Tangkhul elder brother could not attend due to work pressure, but sent a Leirum, a distinctive Tangkhul blanket as a marriage present. Since then, a Leirum is a must as part of dowry of any Meiteis bride. That is a very strong cultural link. As in the past, inter-marriages between Meiteis and Tangkhuls are still prevalent.
Linguistically, Tangkhul language and Meiteilon are very close and similar. In Tangkhul language, numbers are counted as Akha, Khani, Khatum, Matih and Phunga for one, two three, four and five respectively. Compare this with Meiteilon, in brackets-Akha (Ama), Khani (Anee), Khatum (Ahum), Matih (Maree) and Phunga (Manga). Six in Tangkhul is Thruk, which is Taruk in Meiteilon. Ten is Thrah in Tangkhul, which is Tara in Meiteilon. Linguistically, we all belong tot he same group. Such similarity is unbelievable.
All our tribal people speak Meiteilon and the medium of transaction in Manipur legislative Assembly is Meiteilon. The official language in Government offices is Meiteilon. Different tribal peoples of Manipur communicate with each other in Meiteilon since their languages are all different. Actually, Meiteilon is the lingua franca of Manipur just like Hindi in our country. Manipuri that is Meiteilon is what was recognized in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution of India. Language is a big integrating factor.
Culturally, the Koirengs, Koms, Kabuis, etc. worship Sanamahi and Leimaren deities in their dwelling houses just like in any Meitei house. They also observe 'Ningol Chakaoba' festival (feasting of sisters). Our culture is so interwoven that in any Laiharaoba ceremony (worship of sylvan deity), a Tangkhul and Kabui form part of the ceremonial contingent.
I venture to say that Meiteis were originally tribal people. King Mongjamba (1534) who assumed the name of Khagemba as conqueror of Khagi (meaning China, perhaps after defeating the ruler of a small principality of Yunan province of South China) was believed to belong to Anal tribe. King Pamheiba was perhaps a Clothe. General Thangal of Anglo-Manipuri War of 1891 fame was claimed to be a Thangal tribal. When Maharaja Sir Churachand Singh died in November 1941, Yubraj Bodhachandra Singh became the Maharaja. But the coronation ceremony of Maharaja Bodhachandra Singh and Maharani Ishwari Devi took place on April 1, 1942.
Those, including the author, who had witnessed the coronation ceremony distinctly, remember having seen the Maharaja and Maharani attired in Naga tribal costume. At the end of ceremony, the Maharaja and the Maharani did not go inside the palace but retired to a thatched hut, built on the lawns right in front of the now dilapidated Palace Durbar hall. The bamboo and grass hut built for the newly anointed Royals was a typical Naga house with crossed eaves decorated with an imitation bison head. This clearly tells us that Manipur Maharajas and Maharanis were of tribal origins.
In the fast changing world in which we now live, there is no country exclusively for the English, or Arabs or Chinese. The United Kingdom has a mixed population with about 5% colored race. There are 6 or 7 British MPs of colored descent in the House of Commons. There are about 3 Mps in the House of Lords like Lord Swraj Paul. If I am not mistaken, Kenneth Vaz of Gaonese Indian descent was a Minister in Her Majesty's Government of United Kingdom. Secularism and broad-mindedness are title order of the day.
Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country where Muslims play the epic Ramayana. Indonesian Reserve Bank is known as Kuber Bank and their airline as Garuda Airline. The name of the current Indonesian President is Sukaruputri Megawati, which is a Hindu name even though she is a Muslim. This name was given to her by Biju Patnaik, father of Shri Naveen Patnaik, the present Orissa Chief Minister, on the request of her father Dr. Sukarno.
Therefore, if different peoples of the world in other countries can co-exist happily with composite societies and cultures, I see no reason why our Naga brothers and sisters who are closer to us culturally linguistically and ethnically cannot stay with us in Manipur. In the matter regarding preservation of the territorial integrity of Manipur, their voice matters most. The voice of the Meiteis is in signification. If our tribal brothers and sisters decide to join Nagaland, there is nothing we can do to prevent it. But I am confident that they will continue to stay on because of linguistic, cultural and ethnic relations provided the influence of an unwanted pressure group is removed.
Rishang Keishing, a former Tangkhul CM of Manipur worked hard to preserve Manipur's integrity, by leading an All Political Parties Delegation to Delhi in 1997. His life was attempted several times. He was defeated in 2002 elections because of all insurgent outfits. Thank God, he is now an MP (RS). Late Yangmaso Shaiza another former Tangkhul CM got shot because of his fierce idea of integrated Manipur. In fact, many liberal Tangkhuls lost their lives in this struggle. Similarly, the contributions of other Naga tribes are invaluable.
The real problem of the threat to the territorial integrity of Manipur is the perverted idea of the high pundits of North Block. They say one thing and do something else. Words are not matched by deeds. Though the damaging three words "without territorial limits" have been removed from the CF Agreement, but on the ground unofficial CF exists in the hill districts of Manipur. A Lt. Gen., former GOC of 3 Corps, in charge of Manipur and other areas openly said so and the same was media reported. Also, we in Manipur know the ground reality about the extent of CF. Government of India's double talk cannot fool us.
SC Jamir, the nationalist CM of Nagaland has openly said that CF should not be a license to loot, extort and kill. If I may add, it is a license to conduct cadre recruitment, impart military training and expand NSCN (I-M) area of influence. By prolonging Peace Talks, concomitantly CF also, Government of India, in a round about manner, is helping NSCN (I-M). Already CF is five years old. Therefore the problem of territorial integrity of Manipur is not NSCN (I-M) but the Government of India. Can't our North Block pundits realize that the longer CF is extended, the stronger will the NSCN (I-M) become and larger will be their area of influence?
Already NSCN (I-M) has sympathizers and financial supporters in Amsterdam and Atlanta. We must be careful of these foreign hands. The aim of NSCN (I-M) is to prolong Peace Talks may be to ten years, fifteen years and hit India when weak. They are not in a hurry. I guess NSCN (I-M) is more interested in CF extension but not in serious Peace Talks. Peace Talks are only disturbing peace. Already some pundits of North Block have been overhead saying that if Manipur loses some districts to Nagaland and help in solving the vexed (?) Naga problem, what is the harm? After all, the loss of Manipur is gain for Nagaland whereas India remains the same. I wonder if they will stop at that.
Why can't we try to understand the incomprehensible language of NSCN (I-M) that they did not want one inch of land of Manipur and said that all they wanted was to bring all Naga inhabited areas under one administrative unit including some districts of Manipur. This implies that they do not recognize and respect the current geographical extent and existence of Manipur State as part of India. Look at this bloomer of their dream of a Naga country having an area of 1, 50,000 sq.kms. including parts of Assam, Arunachal, Manipur, Myanmar etc. The break-up of Manipur will be the beginning of break-up of India. Manipur is the bulwark of Indian Nationalism in NE India. The sooner the Government of India understands this; the better will be India's future.
(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)
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