Of course, as had been mentioned earlier the option on the part of Manipur was either to merge with the Dominion of India or with the Dominion of Pakistan. Considering her very unfavorable geographical and other political considerations, and also cultural and religious conditions, in particular, joining with the Dominion of Pakistan by Manipur was straightaway very much out of question and hence Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh very thoughtfully and rightly “paved the way” for finally merging with the Dominion of India by his signing during the early stage in the so called instrument of Accession and the Standstill Agreement on 11 August, 1947.

In fact, the British Government had already given their green signal in the year 1935 to Maharaja Sir Churachand Singh for the State of Manipur to join with the Dominion of Burma (now Myanmar) when it was being carved out by separating it from the British India if he was willing to do so to which, the Maharaja, farsightedly was thoughtful in his thinking or otherwise, had kept “mum” on the very tricky issue - the seemingly generous offer of the British Government was actually nothing but for keeping the most strategic State of Manipur as a “buffer state” on the eastern most fringe of India for serving their interest. Had Manipur joined with Burma, as was very much desired and worked upto the last for last for it by Neta Hijam Irabot Singh much later on, what would have been the conditions of the State - could they have been politically and economically in a much better off state or in a much worsened condition than the present one which is very much like living in a “big frying cauldron” placed above a very violently burning fire? Really it is also a billion dollar question that may not be very easily answered even by a political 'genius'.

While such far-sighted views of the kings of Manipur are something very much appreciable the hasty and highly dictating manner on the part of the then Government of India adopted in forcing the helpless king, Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh to sign the Merger Agreement on 21 September 1949 at Governor’s House at Shillong without the due approval of his Cabinet is still considered by many, particularly by the legal experts, to be very “untactful” and “undemocratic” act on the part of the Government of India.

The feelings of great sadness are still there in the humble minds of the people of Manipur of the high-handed act of the then Government of India, particularly of the Union Home Minister, Sardar Vallavbhai Patel by which the king of Manipur and his party were put under some sort of a House arrest as some war “captives at the royal residency at Red Lands, Shillong from 18 to 20 September, 1949 and of the unbearable news of humiliations underwent by the highly religious and very peaceful king. Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh at the hands of the Governor of Assam, Prakasa and his Advisor, Nari K Rustomji.

Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh became so desperate by the unexpected humiliations done to him that he became almost “insane” at one point of time and had secretly and most unbelievably told his private Secretary late Sanasam Gourahari Singh of Singjamei Makha who accompanied in the royal journey to be ready even to murder the Governor and his Advisor, Nari K Rustomji when they meet them again on the next day of 19.9.1949 for further negotiation to be carried out by shooting the former by the Maharaja and the latter by Gourahari Singh and then both Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh and the private secretary Gourahari Singh to end their lives then and there in the Governor’s House Shillong by shooting each other for the sake of keeping up the age-old prestige and territorial integrity of their beloved mother land, independent, Manipur”.

Anyway, it was God’s kindness that no untoward incident in this regard had happened and that Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh regained his good and calm senses and finally signed the Merger Agreement on 21 September, 1949 and it was after that Manipur was merged with the Dominion of India with effect from 15 October 1949, though in a very petty status of a mere part “C” State (third class status) reducing her to a mere State under the ruling of a petty officer of the rank of Chief Commissioner - what a downfall brought by the then Political leaders of Manipur, very much unlike that of the neighboring State of Nagaland whose leaders lifted their land from the mere status of a district to a full-fledged State (first class status) by dint of their far sighted and very bold policies adopted. For the stunning anti-climatic downfall in the status of the State which had been once indomitably existing as an independent State and age-old kingdom the sulking of the people still continues, and according to many legal experts the merger agreement so carried out under “duress” is highly unconstitutional and illegal ‘ab initio’- which is very much “impugnable or refutable” from the point of existing laws, particularly of the International ones.

In this regard, it may be of quite an interesting piece for the readers to find, an extract of points of the analytical comments of Lt. CoI (retired) and an ex-Minister, Haobam Bhuban Singh of Singjamei Chingamathak given in his book written and entitled, The Merger of Manipur. He says, in page 133, that even a big State like Hyderabad could not withstand the Indian Military Action of September 1949, how could a tiny State, Manipur face the violent music that was to be played by India against it in case she had made efforts for going against her merger with the former, and to remain as an independent State of her own. He says further that there is no Native State either in India or in Pakistan which declared independent and remained of her own.

He however very boldly criticized the Government of India for being not 'tactful and patient enough', while handling the merger issue of Manipur as in page 138. Also he denounced the treacherous act of India carried out at Shillong by which all the insurgents of Manipur are made still angry - page 139. He also highly praises Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh for his sincere spirit of being a thorough nationalist and not an arrogant autocrat though he could have been so as he could have exercised very wide autocratic powers immediately after the withdrawal of the British paramount powers from the State - page 140.

Now to continue the writing as its last part, it may be said that - whatever happened has happened, nothing could be done now to reel back to the days gone-bye and get back the things that had occurred and had been destroyed in an eternally lost nature, due to the great “blunders and narrow sights of the leaders”, just as nothing can be done to retrieve the milk in bulk that has been splashed on the ground or the glass that has been smashed and broken into pieces except to remain calmly and thoughtfully in 'solace' by believing to the divine saying that all things of events in the world do happen or ordained to happen due to God, Almighty’s doings for the ultimate good and welfare of men and also due to their destined fates - such was a quick answer given by witty Birbal to Emperor, Akbar when he got a serious cut-injury in one of his fingers and profusely bleeding to the great alarm of all the royal companions except Birbal during a hunting expedition, and because of that cut suffered with a mark left on the emperor’s finger he was saved later on from being sacrificed before deity goddess by human sacrificers (chandalas) who caught him and carried him away overpowered while he happened to be in an all alone and helpless situation as he was separated from his entire party suddenly due to loss of way in the mist of the thick jungle during a subsequent outing for hunting - had it not been for the cut mark bored on the finger of Akbar he would not have been saved from the human sacrifice that was to be done by the priest of the deity's temple who on seeing his cut mark suddenly refused the sacrifice and released him immediately - the event so happened was really a mysterious and absolutely unbelievable one to the great emperor but it did make him good to realize of the naked truth spoken earlier by his most-trusted and witty companion Minister, Birbal who was well rewarded by the emperor instead of sulking further on him for his “couldn’t care attitude” shown earlier at the time of occurrence of the serious injury to the emperor.

So also had it not been due to the precious loss of life of Thangjam Manorama Devi occurred in the year 2004 on 11 July for which, of course, the majority of the people of Manipur deeply share the profound grief of her parents, family members and close friends, the people of Manipur would not have, perhaps, got back still their most sacred place, Kangla.

Whatever may be the drawbacks and faults that may be there in the merger of Manipur with the Dominion of India the best part that lies in its “Merger Agreement” signed most trustfully on 21st September 1949 by both the sides is the “safe-guard” that may be said to have been laid down in respect of its jurisdiction i.e. the territory of Manipur comprising of both the hills and the valley which had been “ceded-enbloc” by Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh to the Dominion of India as mentioned at the outset as the first and foremost of the instrument of the Merger Agreement under Article I, which is a term of trustful agreement that may not be violated or set aside now by the present Government of India merely for fulfilling their partisan politics of appeasing only a few highly communal sections of people who are very adamantly insisting and threatening time and again for causing an ethnic-disintegration and also disintegration of the “age-old” territory of the hoary land of Manipur, the existence of which, even though say, it becomes the so called south-Nagaland, cannot be “dreamt of at all” without the “peaceful co-existence” of both the peoples of the hills and the plain as one as had been so from time immemorial - “Chingda taba mahaige, tamda taba mahaige, wakon tanoi noi...” “be it the settlers of the hills, be it the settlers of the valley, both are one from the same primeval stock” - this is how the Manipuri Lai Haraoba (merriment of gods, the progenitors of all the indigenous people) folk song sings in the very ancient and primeval tune indicating of the ever inseparable oneness relationship existing in between the two groups of people.

Actually, it was only from the time of the British rule that the seeds of feelings of division in between the two indigenous blood-related groups of people were “sown” for carrying out a “divide and rule” policy for strengthening their position taking the full advantage of the inferior treatment done by the plains’ people, the Meiteis, to the people of the Hills as if they were of some alien and untouchable peoples by virtue of the former’s becoming orthodox Hindus at the much later stage, and also by their having a much better and advanced living conditions - it is the very fruit of the seeds of division so sown by the British for achieving their partisan goal that is being “reaped” now by both the sects of people of the hills and the plain of Manipur, in particular the Meiteis, by which is made all of them living presently under a very very uncertain and uneasy atmosphere with quite a unpeaceful and ever fearful “psyche”.

In case the present Government of India happens to violate or discard the agreement so trustfully signed earlier unduly subverting it under their unchallengeable powers provided in Article 3(a) of the Constitution, which are powers actually meant to be exercised very sparingly and rarely as very special cases related to solving only the problems of highly administrative inconveniences that happen to be faced by two or more states, and not “sweetly” otherwise simply for serving “communal or religious” purposes destroying the very spirit of “Secularism” and “non-Communalism”, on the basis of which the great country had been founded and built up and is smoothly carrying on till date - the people who may be aggrieved then, of course, should have every right to fight it out taking the due course of law”.

In fact, the history of Manipur, when it is traced or looked back to many centuries earlier, is according to the findings of many learned historians, the history of a unique and hoary land which came into existence after a great “deluge” had taken place, and after which formed a mountainous country of a valley surrounded all around by ranges of high mountains standing all around like high walls protecting the valley, on which (on the mountains) arrived hordes and streams of immigrants of different groups of Mongoloid stock of peoples and began to settle.

These hordes of immigrants came down from far away places of Mongolia, China, Tibet via accessible routes of the great Himalayan ranges and also came up from south-east Asian regions, namely Cambodia, Thailand (previously Siam) and even from Malaysian islands via the routes along Mekong or Lancang Jiang or Lan-ts’ang major river of south-east Asia, 4184 km or 2600 miles long rising in Tibet and flowing down southwards through China, Laos, Kampuchea and Vietnam joining finally the South China Sea.

The main groups of the immigrants so arrived and settled beginning from the hills were the Poireis, the Khumans, the Lei-Nungs, Lei-Hous from whom sprang out the so called, Seven-salais (clans) which formed the groups - the Meiteis, the Tangkhuls, the Kabuis, the Marams, the Maos, the Marings, the Chothes, the Chirus, the Anals, the Koms, the Koirengs and all other indigenous tribes who had been since living in the most ancient land very peacefully as the inseparable brethren of a big family of people having all the similarities and identical characteristics in their customs, cultures, styles and habits of living, and all more importantly, linguistically because of which there is the “love” and good “understanding” amongst them all of being the oneness of a people who stemmed out from the same Mongoloid stock.

It is because of the presence of a good deal of elements of the Khumans, Leinungs and Leihous amongst the Meiteis and the Tangkhul tribes, in particular, that there has been a strong claim of very close blood-relationship in between them. It is said that the dynastic god of the Meiteis and all their cognate tribes, Pakhangba, was born of a Leihou mother, Yabiroka, daughter of a Leihou chief along with other sons who had been left over in the hills under the care of their maternal grand-father when the group of the former came down and settled in the valley. The brothers of Pakhangba who had been so left in the hills were the ones who became the Tangkhuls etc.

It is in the context of the above highlighted glaring facts that one would like to very frankly 'disagree' with the claim that “the non-Kuki tribes”, numbering only some three lakhs in total as against a total of more than 4 lakhs of the Kukis of the entire hills of Manipur, who came under the umbrella of very recently adopted “appellation - Naga”, which is actually a very superficial and artificial nomenclature introduced by the British administrators to suit their purpose of the “divide and rule” policy, have their “own separate and unique history” as one unified people from the beginning of their primeval descent or appearance on the hoary land.

The figures of population quoted as above are the figures given in the letter of the Kuki Movement for Human Rights and Kuki Students’ Organization written to the Union Minister for Human Rights Development, Arjun Singh on 6.8.2006.

In their letter they also strongly asserted the fact that no district in Manipur is exclusively inhabited by a single ethnic group or community, and that the Districts were created within the State only for the convenience of administration and not at all for serving any communal purpose.

To sum up, it is to be said that the Kingdom of Manipur had been existing since time immemorial ever constituted by its hills and the valley inseparably with its indigenous subjects of peoples categorized under two names, the Tammis (the people who settled in the valley) and the Chingmis or the Haos (the people of all the groups irrespective of their indigenous ethnic divisions settled or remained in the hills).

therefore it really tantamount quite “mischievous and flagrant, and not at all a “feasible plan”, to make the ethnic and territorial “disintegration” on the basis of only one “plank” of community by “sowing” seeds of ‘hatredness” amongst the innocent people of both the sects who should not delay to “wake up to realize” fully the ill and most fearful consequences that they will disastrously face as a result of such ‘an ethnic and territorial break-up’, if happens to take place at all.

(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)