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“After all there is throughout this world so
far as man is concerned but a single race ¾
the human race, kept alive by one common
blood, the human blood. All other talk is at
best provisional, a makeshift and only
relatively true. Nature is constantly trying
to overthrow the artificial barriers you
raise between race and race. To try to
prevent the commingling of blood is to build
on sand. Sexual attraction has proved more
powerful than all the commands of all the
prophets put together. Even as it is, not
even the aborigines of the Andamans are
without some sprinkling of the so-called
Aryan blood in their veins and vice-versa.
Truly speaking all that one can claim is
that one has the blood of all mankind in
one’s veins. The fundamental unity of man
from pole to pole is true, all else only
relatively so.”
— Veer Savarkar
The word “integration” has been used in this
tiny state of Manipur every day. It has
become a most common vocabulary among
writers, scholars, politicians, spiritual
leaders and media persons. In view of the
present atmosphere and situations where
groupism, clanism and communalism have taken
stronger roots, we often hear people talking
in terms of separate homeland like Zogam,
Kukiland, Naga integration, etc.
We talk a lot about emotional integration,
but it appears that we don’t know the real
meaning of integration. Where do the
emotions spring from? If we study
scientifically we could find several
sources. Our thoughts and mind simply create
emotion of our self image and our identity.
Nevertheless, if our glands and hormones
have defect and cease to function, we may
not be aware of our identity or self image.
Therefore, it may not be necessary to preach
the so-called emotional integration any more
because insane and lunatics seldom
disintegrate. When we read “heart” it is
that place from where emotions arise, as
well as thoughts and convictions. It makes
me wonder whether the mind is simply a
staging field where the input and output
meet, but the heart is where the real
essence is stored.
What are emotions? Emotion is our thoughts.
We simply manage them, control them, hide
them, stuff them, and ignore them and still
they bubble to the surface. We can’t run
away from our emotions since they are as
much a part of us as our bodies, our dreams,
and our thoughts. Suppress them, our energy
gets dampen and this creates havoc in our
lives and leads to the creation of disease.
What we can do is to learn to acknowledge
them, accept them and express them in ways
that are respectful to others and to
ourselves. It is through embracing our
emotions that we become more fully alive. To
release the hurt and regain control, we must
learn to uncover our buried emotions. This
transformational process leads to a world of
new choices, and allows us to make the
changes in our lives necessary for realizing
our goals.
What about our present day? Why integration
seems to be a far-cry in our case? I do
believe that the main factor is the
emergence of ethnic chauvinism accompanied
with different traditions and religions that
indeed hinder the process of integration and
oneness. Then what might be the solution for
our integration as a whole? From my personal
point of view, to promote
interracial-marriage is the only means for
Manipur integration.
Looking back to the past world history,
Mohammedans and Christians have been
fighting, killing and burning living people
in thousands. However, interestingly, they
still dare to call it Holy war or Jihad..!
In the city of Pella, Macedon in 356 B.C a
son was born to King Philip II and his wife
Olympias, princess from Epirus. His name was
Alexander III, to be known to future
generations as Alexander the Great.
Alexander accepted that to hold together a
single world of many different nations the
people would have to intermingle freely
without being poisoned by racism.
The unification of his vast empire could be
best achieved by intermarriage between the
conquering and the conquered people. He put
his theory into practice by arranging mass
marriages between his Greek and Macedonian
troops and the people of Persia, Egypt,
Ethiopia, Assyria, India, and every other
nationality in the Empire. His own wife,
Roxane, considered the most beautiful maiden
of all Asia, was a captive from eastern
Persia. He planned to continue widespread
intermarriage until all people would be one
race, one nation, one melting pot.
Alexander’s ambitious plan might have been
successful except for an unforeseen bite
from a mosquito. At age of 32 he suddenly
became ill and died within a few days.
In general, the idea that intermarriage can
subdue racial hostility makes some sense. As
a matter of fact, a racial group is merely
an extended family that inbreeds to some
extent. Therefore, our breeding can slowly
merge by integrating genetically and
culturally, once hostile groups. That’s why,
although it is good to be the king (as Mel
Brooks has noted), it isn’t always so good
to be the princess. Many a Ruritanian
princess has found herself forced into
marrying some chinless princeling from Lower
Slobovia because their respective royal
fathers desire half-Ruritanian /half-Slobovian
grand children to cement a political
alliance.
The world might be more peaceful, if we put
this theory into practice by arranging mass
marriage among Meitei, Naga, Hmar, Paite,
Kuki, Mizo etc. As novelist Alexandar
Solzhenitsyn said in his Nobel Prize speech,
“The disappearance of nations would
impoverish us no less than if all peoples
were made alike, with one character, one
face.” Nonetheless, intermarriage remains
the best hope for melding Manipur`s ethnic
crisis into one race and nation. What will
break down the barriers of differences,
hatred and hostile if mass intermarriage is
put into practice? How small our genetic and
cultural differences are relative to racial
groups from other community..!
Now we are in the slog of daily life, trying
to cope with all life’s crises and still
have time to relax and smell the flowers.
But there are still challenges raised by
mass intermarriage that need to be
addressed, whether you’re in a
Christian-Hindu-Muslim-Sanamahi. An
inter-race/faith Hindu marriage to a Muslim,
or are facing other combinations of
interfaith marriage complications. And you
could use some encouragement and inspiration
for the integration of Manipur. |
