Sir,
This is in response to Ms. Nandita Haksar's “Constitutional crisis in Manipur”, that appeared in your IFP daily edition dated the 26th June, 2001.
The writer of this response deeply acknowledges her painful and misguided awareness of the divisions within the Manipur society and very truly spoken is she, that the rest of India is highly ignorant about the history and geography of this area. But the moot point is, is she an exception to the ignominious norm that is prevalent in the “Indian mindset” ?

At a personal level, the expectation of reading a good and thought provoking article, seemingly authored by an eminent human rights lawyer and activist of the likes of Ms. Nandita Haksar, was given a rude jolt and it all came crashing down to a disappointing naught. Being in the position that she is and the eminence and trust she has of some section of the Naga(?) people, one could have expected her to make a more responsible and neutral viewpoint, but she has only highlighted and parroted what has been toyed around since quite some time without any impunity, in the news media by partisan groups and individuals, just to fuel a communal fire that is threatening to stub out all humane societal norms and stifle out the feeble but rational voices of the silent majority of all the sections of the Manipur society.

In her whimsical historical description of Manipur, there is nothing new that has not been said or written in the past, by self styled historians and pseudo social workers. Whether these hollow descriptions and proclamations can stand close scrutiny, is altogether a different matter. Her description and viewpoint of the present inter-communal stand off is, at best, a one sided perspective , or aptly a brainwashed projection that borders close to ignorance of the social interactions that has been in play amongst all communities in Manipur, since many centuries. Being the lawyer that she is, it is not an abnormal stance to side with her own Naga clients (that is a lawyer's dharma), but to behave and speak like a spokesperson of the Naga(?) cause, is stretching things a bit too far. The claim of her familiarity with Manipur's geography and demography holds no water and it verily proves the old adage that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. As far as Manipur's history is concerned, it is a heartfelt advice and suggestion for the learned but ill informed Ms. Nandita Haksar, not to fish in troubled waters. It is her prerogative if she wants to be a party to communal war mongering but then, it does not befit people of her stature to indulge in such cheap propaganda.

It will be a worthless exercise to pursue an argument based on a false idea and notion of the Nagas(?) self perceived depreciation of their own selves, without any substantiated evidence. Till to this very day, the valley Meiteis refer the hills people by their tribal clan name and not as Nagas(?). A Tangkhul is a Tangkhul, a Kabui is a Kabui, a Mao is a Mao and so on, with a very deep rooted historical relation with the valley Meiteis, which does not need any authentication by any second, third or fourth party. The terminology of the Naga(?) concept is only a few decades old, put into use by the British for their own administrative conveniences. It will be worthwhile to ponder at this juncture that if the British did not make their presence in this region, then the Naga(?) body would have been a non entity, as nobody would have classified them by that name.

Nobody can dispute the fact the hill tribes were an extremely divided lot that resided in camp like villages mostly on hill tops, with very separate and distinct cultures and dialects. The inter tribal feudal warfare was rampant, in which head hunting was a practice prided by the different tribal clans. The most valiant warrior of a tribal clan is identified by the highest number of heads he has in his kitty. Till today, the dialects of Tangkhul, Mao, Paomai, Maram, Thangal , Anal, Aimol, Kom, etc., etc. have nothing in common and the inter tribal communicating medium is the the language of the Meiteis. For the Naga(?) nation proponents this is the most bitter pill to swallow, and the toughest obstacle to cross, in trying to project a common lineage of the hill tribes. Very true and these are hard facts but, unfortunately, that is a part of their history which refuses to die down.

Ms. Haksar's (or her ghost writer's) attempt to project the Meiteis as the culprit for the lack of development in the hill areas smacks of a very devious and diabolical attempt to portray the Meiteis in a very poor light. In spite of all the negative characteristics the Meiteis have been attributed to, quite a few are undisputed and many unwarranted, but being communal or caste conscious was never one of the attributes. It is a well known fact that Hill development funds has its own separate budgetary allocation and must only be used for the purpose it is meant for, but it is an open secret that there are many with ulterior motives who manage and succeed in siphoning off and misuse the funds meant for the hills and tribal development, through false and insignificant projects construed by selfish and self centred individuals and groups (NGOs, that are dozen a dime in the hill district head quarters). The other method is the use of threats, intimidation and the power of the gun by underground groups, like the NSCN(IM) to help themselves to the funds meant for the development of the hills. The most recent is the case of the brutal murder of the late Th.Kishen, erstwhile SDO of Kasom Khullen, Ukhrul District, by the NSCN(IM) as he was not cowed down by them, refused and turned down their demands of misappropriating and misusing NREGS funds. How could a learned personality like Ms. Haksar, could have projected such unsubstantiated allegations like “the people of the hill districts have been systematically denied their fair share of development funds” ?

Ms. Haksar should dig deeper and will find a lot of coteries that control and misuse the hill development funds for their own personal benefit. Almost all hill representatives have patta land holdings in the valley with massive high rise residences with hard to scale high fences and gates. It is not to say that the valley representatives are not corrupt because they definitely are, but it will be a very unwise move on the hill representatives part to emulate them, because the degree of illiteracy and under development is much much higher in the hills and they should have the determination, sincerety and vision to develop their own wards and constituencies. But to expect somebody else to come and do their dirty work is like asking somebody to move their jaws when the proverbial jamun is in their oral cavities.

Politics is a game played by people known for their notoriety. Ms. Nandita Haksar very well knows this that in the political game, agreements and proclamations is never to be taken in the spirit of the letter ingrained on paper. She is definitely in a better position to realise that, being in the profession of composing documents that appears like meaning which is not meant, or/and not meaning what is meant. What happened yesterday can never be a reality today or vice versa. Even after prolonged sojourns to Manipur, her knowledge about the place and its people are extremely and painfully superficial and the embedded message to the contrary, is but an attempt to hide that ignorance. It will be worthwhile if she attempts to research a bit more and deeper, using her own means and resources, rather than depending what is fed to her by her Naga(?) clients.
The Naga concept proponents have evolved into extremely good and skillful players in the art of camouflaging and creating smoke screens over their nefarious activities, and manipulating at different levels in trying to achieve the unachievable. This is where their activities based on a narrow mindset come to a full stop, as they have not yet reached the stage to realise that nation building cannot take place if based only on redrawing of maps, manipulating and recreating imaginary historical events that were not chronicled and are not reproducible. Human capacity building of their own community, is the one thing that is completely ignored and disregarded by the Naga(?) movement and their so called leaders, and that is the very sorry part in their movement. That is the crux of the problem. In their over eager attempts to project the Meiteis as the convenient scapegoat for their under development, they have successfully laid the path that leads to more and more backwardness. Nobody, least of all the Meiteis, is responsible for such an eventuality, except the Nagas(?) themselves. It will not serve their purpose by threatening, intimidating and falsely accusing others for the shortfall in their own objective vision.

It is not an exaggeration to say that all prospective election candidates of the hill constituencies resort to a very commonly used and oft repeated election tactic at all pre-election gatherings and meetings, which is Meitei bashing. Why is this so ? For the first timer in electoral politics, it shows that the intending candidate has enough strength and might to face their Meitei counterparts ; for the seasoned candidates seeking reelection, it serves the purpose of hiding and camouflaging non performance during

their tenures, blaming the Meiteis for their own inefficiencies. This has been going on a regular basis since the time when electoral politics started taking roots in the hill districts of Manipur, up to such an extent that anti-Meitei sentiments is ingrained in the psyche of the illiterate and unknowing hill tribals. When asked why, by people who understood the language they were speaking, many prominent hill representatives would nonchalantly reply with straight faces that it was just an election ploy and nothing else. Such blatant lies adorn the lips of these so called hill leaders who possess no vision for their own home constituencies.

The writer would like to share with Ms. Haksar, a few undocumented and less appreciated fringe perspectives, historical as well as social. It will be her prerogative to study and appreciate them and put these information to educate her Naga(?) clients, for their over all betterment. No offense meant.

Nobody in Manipur disputes the historical fact that the religious conversion to Vaishnavism took place in the early 18th century, in the era of the Manipur Raja Garib Niwaz, a.k.a. King Pamheiba. It is one of the most unique religious conversions ever, if ever there was one, because it was not a conversion but adoption. The Meitei community did not forsake the age old Sanamahi worship in place of Vaishnavism. Even to this day and age, the Meiteis as well as the Meitei brahmins' home is adorned with a place of worship for Lord Sanamahi, the Meitei diety, so called Santhong laatpa.. Till this very day, the majority of the Meitei community adhere to the two religious systems concurrently, with all the due respect and formalities. Slowly at first, the first few steps of this religious adoption were tentative, but picked up a pace of its own and its penetration and assimilation in the Meitei population was deep and widespread. So much that, the Vaishnavism of the Goura dharma order reached a peak of sorts. Goura dharma did bring about a dramatic and significant change in the social life of the Meiteis, as far as education and hygiene were concerned. It can be said that in the Manipuri household not very long ago, an elder takes a meal only after a cleansing bath that is followed by a ritualistic worship and the application of tikas on the forehead and shoulders, known as the Laibak chandon thinba. The holier than thou attitude was quite all pervasive and this writer still remembers that nobody was allowed to go into the kitchen without a bath. The cook had to wear only washed or silk(muga) clothing that is especially earmarked for the kitchen, known as chaakhum phi, literally meaning the kitchen clothing. A cook had to take a compulsory bath again, if she or he had to visit the the toilet for a nature's call, midway during the cooking. Cooking meat and eggs in the kitchen was strictly prohibited, which is so different from what is being practiced now a days. For better or for worse, is not the argument in contention, but it was a system that was prevalent not so long ago.

The tribals, usually the Tangkhuls, were usually the ones who came to a valley household for work, mainly canal and pond digging, known locally as the khongbaan touba or pukhri touba, respectively. They were usually scantily dressed and never took a bath regularly, even after carrying out dirty jobs, and the act of cleaning oneself with water after ablutions was never practiced by them. This is not to raise a finger of allegation that they did something wrong, but this is a fact prevalent not so long ago. This practice was totally unacceptable to many devout Vaishnavite Meiteis who practically lived by the ways of Goura dharma tenets, in those days of yore. This practice of cleanliness that culminated from a religious perspective, known as maangba-sengba in local terminology, has been wrongly attributed and perceived by the hills people as to be discriminatory to them, which is very unfortunate. They did not understand the concept of the religious rituals the Meiteis practiced so fervently and many hills people who had studied in the valley institutions, took to the off-tangent idea that they were discriminated against. It will be worthwhile to note that maangba-sengba can be translated as pure and impure, but imperceptibly understood as clean and unclean, which was true in their case, from a Meitei Vaishnavite's view point.
The erstwhile PM, (Late) Smt. Indira Gandhi had made the offer of including the Meiteis in the scheduled caste category, but the Manipur Congress leaders at that time, in all their wisdom of belonging to a “higher class mentality”, did not accept it. It is not hard to fathom their reluctance as accepting such an offer would mean to climb down from the belief that Meiteis were Arya putras and Kshetriyas to boot and to be categorised as a minority (like the Muslims and Christians) was the last straw. This remark is made in all earnest, as a factual representation, and bear no superiority overtones. Illogical as it may sound, this seemingly harmless decline paved the way for a much more competitive frame of mind for the Meiteis, as they had to face a much more stringent and a highly competitive environment. The effects of belonging to the open general class, without the benefit of quotas and reservations, have slowly started to emerge only now. Many young Meiteis have succeeded in making successful careers and entrepreneurial efforts outside the state and country, fighting and clawing hard in trying to find a place in the sun.

On the other hand, this development started to open up a divide of sorts between the valley Meiteis and scheduled tribes of the hills. The tribes with the constitutionally sponsored quotas and reservations, made available to them because they lacked in education and were under developed (which many of them started believing it to be their birthright ), began to get plum posts with ease and relatively lesser effort. But the thing to bookmark at this juncture is that the size of the tribal population receiving some sort of formal education is still very low (and please do not blame the Meiteis for that, too), while the Meiteis had to be contented with whatever they got. But the effort to excel in an open category had, in fact, spurred their intellect and raised the quality of personal growth as far education and the competitive spirit (still a very long way to go, yet) is concerned. But the need for a higher quality of education is realised only by a few tribals (countable on finger tips,some will say), and that too, who reside in the valley area. The onus of opening up the hills for all round growth, lies with the hill tribes. The old and popular saying of “you cannot have the cake and eat it too” applies to them to a very great extent. But they are not sure of themselves, and does not understand as yet, that the fact that the proposed land reforms, will make them grow on so many fronts. It is only a few with vested interests and the false perception of an insecure future, makes all those shrieking sounds as if their rights and living daylights has been denied to them. This is where eminent personalities like Ms. Haksar has a very important role in convincing the Naga(?) nationhood proponents that they cannot live in a closed society, and still demand the moon to be delivered at their doorsteps.

This writer still remembers that not very long ago, the tribal students who underwent professional courses, like engineering and medicine gaining these highly coveted seats through reservations,were only interested in getting the certificate as their jobs in the Government departments were already assured through the quota system. This system is still very much in vogue. For such career choices, most Manipur tribals are unaware that the candidate must be able perform at peak levels and deliver the goods at the highest degree of efficiency. It is also a fact that the number of drop outs in the candidates from the hill districts, both in medical and engineering courses, is also very high. Not very surprising though, considering the fact their leaning towards gaining education (more so the certificate !!) is limited to a very narrow outlook. This has lead to the downfall in their human development index. Who is responsible for such a negative development ? The pertinent question to Ms. Haksar and the Naga(?) accusers is this. Why should the Meitei community be blamed for such an impasse ? Are they going to say that the Meitei did not teach and treat them well ? It will be a very positive development if the Naga(?) leaders start to dig up the real cause of their present under developed state. Let them be assured that the reasons are not very far away and so, will not be hard to find, if they open up their closed minds.

Until and unless, the young hill tribals of Manipur, strive harder to excel in their learning abilities and studies, and beat the odds at open competitions, the wish and hope for being at par with others, is a very very distant dream. Toting up a gun and day dreaming about Nagalim, is not going to take them anywhere except down the track of a wasted life or sudden death. The older ones have already wasted their lives but they should not be allowed to ruin future generations. It is the writer's fervent hope that the message will be received for all the well intentions it carries. It is also a hard fact that the road to progress is a very thorny one, indeed, but one should not refrain from walking just because the road is thorny. The more one walks on it, the pain of the thorny pickles will be overcome and we all, will be able not only to walk but run confidently. The greatest gift of God is life itself. If one professes love for God, it is only natural to care for the gift of life through better and good quality education, otherwise, the 'Nagaland for Christ' theme projected by Th. Muivah and the NSCN(IM) will ring hollow, and will remain a political misadventure.

It is found to be a big disappointment and very perplexing that a person of Ms. Haksar's stature resorts to petty war mongering with communal overtones, using phrases like “Meitei domination” , “Meitei government”, and “subjugation of the Nagas(?)” etc. In what way has the Meitei community dominated over the Nagas(?), please elaborate. Slapped them, pushed them over the precipice, robbed them of their belongings, extorted them of their hard earned money !! But this is what the NSCN(IM) does on the national highways, NH-39 and NH-53, to the Meitei community and to all and sundry, including their own tribes people. What do you make of that ? The “Meitei” government you refer to, is a democratically elected one, and prefixing it with a community name, shows that you have not understood democracy, at all. Just because, Dr. Manmohan Singh, the P.M. Of India, is a Punjabi, should we call the Indian government, the Punjabi government.

It is a simple wish that learned people like Ms. Nandita Haksar should refrain from being communal, and be a part of the thinking group that opens the path to a solution towards a better life for all people living in Manipur, and not be part of the problem.

Yours faithfully,
Bankimchandra Chingangbam
Imphal (W), Manipur