Articles/Opinion – Page 9

Decades of Sadar Hills Demand

By Thongkholal Haokip
Since the early 1970s, Manipur has been witnessing occasional strikes and bandhs demanding upgradation of the Sadar Hills area of Senapati district into a full-fledged revenue district. Despite being fully aware of the necessity of its upgradation based on administrative convenience, successive Manipur governments have been repeatedly ignoring the wishes of the people. It is high time that the state government, instead of overlooking the issue, deals promptly with ingenuity and positive outcome.

SADAR is an abbreviation of Selected Area Development Administrative Region as found in the land records of Manipur. Likewise there are a number of SADARs in many states of India particularly Uttar Pradesh which were established by the British during their colonial rule in India. Thus, Sadar Hills is the hills overlooking and encircling the Imphal valley. Sadar Hills was conceived way back in 1933 by JC Higgins, the then British Political Agent in Manipur.

History of Sadar Hills
Before the Kuki Uprising of 1917-1919, there was no administration of the hill areas of Manipur. After the Uprising the British rulers felt the necessity of administrative control and thereby divided the hills into South-East and North-East subdivisions with its headquarters at Tamenglong and Ukhrul respectively. In 1933, the British created Sadar subdivision with its headquarters at Kangpokpi for administrative convenience.

With the signing of the “Merger Agreement” with India on September 21, 1949 by the Maharajah of Manipur Bodhachandra Singh, the state becomes “Part-C State” of the Indian Union. In 1969 Manipur was divided into five districts: Central (Imphal), North (Karong), South (Churachandpur), East (Ukhrul) and West (Tamenglong). The reorganisation of districts placed Sadar Hills as a sub-division of the North District (Karong). To fulfill the aspirations of the hill people the Government of India enacted the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council Act, 1971. Section 3 of the Act divides the hill areas into six Autonomous District Councils or Hills Districts including Sadar Hills. Chandel, Tengnoupal and Chakpikarong continued to remain as hill sub-divisions under Central District. In the following years the four Autonomous District Councils (ADCs), Senapati, Tamenglong, Ukhrul and Churachandpur, were upgraded to a full revenue district. In 1974 three Subdivisions, Chakpikarong, Chandel, and Tengnoupal Hills, were merged and put under a separate Hill revenue district with its headquarters at Tengnoupal, which was later shifted to Chandel.

The Manipur North District came into existence on November 14, 1969 with its headquarters at Karong. Later the district headquarters was shifted to Senapati on December 13, 1976. In July 15, 1983, the district came to be known as Senapati District. Sadar Hills continues to be under the North District of Manipur awaiting to be declared as a full fledged revenue district even though it has a fully functional ADC since 1971.

Sadar Hills Movement and Manipur Governments
The demand for the creation of Sadar Hills district first came from the Kuki Chiefs’ Zonal Council in its meeting held on September 3, 1970. The leaders of Kuki Chiefs’ Zonal Council met the then Home Minister KC Pant in July 1971, and placed their demand for a separate district comprising of Sadar Hills. The delegates of the Kuki Chiefs’ Zonal Council again held a meeting with Security Commissioner on October 6, 1971 at Kholjang village. The Nayal Commission in 1974, not only recommended for the creation of Sadar Hills district, but also suggested for the inclusion of some adjoining areas of Senapati and Ukhrul for administrative convenience and development. However, all these demands, talks and recommendations failed to produce any result.

Under the auspicious of the Kuki National Assembly the Sadar Hills District Demand Committee (SHDDC) was formed in 1974 to demand a full-fledge revenue district status for the Sadar Hills Autonomous District Council, consisting of Saikul, Kangpokpi and Saitu subdivisions. Ever since Manipur attained full fledged statehood in 1972 several state ministries made attempts to declare Sadar Hills as a full fledged revenue district. The first attempt was made by the Rishang Keishing’s Congress government in 1982. The ministry put up an ordinance to the Governor to declare Sadar Hills as district and the same was dully signed by the Governor but the ordinance was withdrawn due to opposition from the then Manipur Naga Council.

The 1990s was trying times in the politics of Manipur, marked by instability of state government ministries, the Kuki-Naga ethnic conflict and attempts by various coalition governments to inaugurate Sadar Hills as a revenue district. RK Ranbir Singh’s United Front ministry endeavoured to upgrade Sadar Hills to a district status in 1990-91. But the political instability and downfall of the United Front Ministry at the centre prematurely ended the life of the state government, and so were their efforts. The succeeding Congress ministry of RK Dorendro Singh also put efforts during their regime without success.

After heading the Manipur State Congress Party government in December 1997, W Nipamacha Singh’s ministry gathered courage and even fixed a date in October 1997 to inaugurate Sadar Hills as a revenue district at Sapormeina. Adequate buildings were constructed and all functional departments were upgraded but the final decision was not made. In 1998 a new Assembly Constituency, Saitu, was created since all hill districts were having a minimum of three Assembly Constituencies each. To prepare Sadar Hills more for a full revenue district mini-Secretariat, Sports Complex, etc were constructed. The ADC now has all the paraphernalia of a district on ground and all offices functioning with an added prefix such as the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Additional Superintendent of Police, etc.

In the course of its untiring demand for Sadar Hills district several demonstrations, strikes and bandhs were called. Such peaceful movements were sometimes filled with gory incited by the state machinery apart from many untold miseries. In the past, two youths lost their lives. In 1981, Seikeng Haokip, who was part of a long silent procession from Sapormeina to Kangpokpi demanding Sadar Hill district, was shot dead by Manipur police in an attempt to disperse the crowd. In 2008, a grade VIII student, Lalminlien Sitlhou, was run down by a vehicle of security forces in Keithelmanbi while he was obstructing the highway in support of the demand for Sadar Hill district.

Contest for Land
Since the inception of Sadar Hills demand the Nagas oppose it based on their claims of being the first settlers or indigenous people and the Kukis as late settlers. This opposition is demonstrated by the unpublished Memorandum of Understanding between the United Naga Council (UNC) and Manipur Government to end the month long economic blockade of the UNC. It reads: “No Sadar Hills District will be created as a full-fledged Revenue District in the absence of the UNC representatives.”

Most ethnic communities in Northeast India migrated to their present settlements at some historical periods, mostly after the first century AD. The Nagas claimed Tamenglong, Senapati, Chandel and Ukhrul as their ancestral land based on folktales, oral traditions and British colonial gazetteers, reports and surveys. Such myths and colonial records need to be examined scientifically for practical purposes. Neither the Nagas nor Kukis have written historical records as they don’t have script of their own. In the absence of written history the claims based on such myths are more of a speculation. Colonial records are often used to substantiate their claims. In this regard, the British records often have prejudice and biased against the Kukis since the Kukis opposed colonialism as a rebellion from 1917-1919 and also in both the World Wars. In contrary to such claims, Majumdar and Bhattasali (History of India, 1930) refer to the Kukis as the earliest people known to have lived in prehistoric India, preceding the “Dravidians”. Even Cheitharol Kumpapa, the court chronicle of the kings of Manipur, and the Pooyas, the traditional records of the Meitei people, has some accounts of Kuki people and a king which dates back to 33 AD.

Thus, myths coupled with prejudiced colonial records, and even threats, were often used to oppose the Sadar Hills movement and its move to upgrade it to a revenue district.

Present Agitation
The election of new SHDDC leaders in June 2011 marked the revival for the demand of Sadar Hills district. The Sadar Hills District Demand Committee has been renamed as Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee to signify the readiness on the ground in terms of infrastructure and various processes needed, as the state government spelt out such requirement before and promised for the upgradation as and when done.

The committee requested the state government to declare Sadar Hills as full fledged district before July 31, failing which seven days economic blockade on the two national highways, NH-2 and NH-37, will be called and an indefinite economic blockade thereafter if there is no response from the government. On July 26, 2011, representatives of various Kuki civil bodies, Members of District Council and SHDDC staged a sit-in-protest demonstration at the office complex of the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Kangpokpi, against the 40 years denial of full fledged districthood to Sadar Hills Autonomous District Council. A memorandum addressing the Chief Minister of Manipur was submitted to the ADC Kangpokpi, by the leaders of the various bodies gathered there.

The non-response from the government forced the SHDDC leaders to impose economic blockade to the two lifeline of Manipur on August 1. On the second day the state government bullied the protest by imposing CrPC 144 in Sadar Hills area. Bandh supporters pelt stones at a truck defying the bandh and the driver lost control and run down on three girls who were beside the road. Due to the death of the innocents the SHDDC leaders declare indefinite bandh on the evening of the second day. On the third day, procession was held at Kangpokpi carrying the dead bodies of the previous day’s accident victims demanding for the upgradation. Six drivers were hurt seriously and as many as six vehicles were torched by the bandh supporters. As the bandh continues various Naga tribes and civil bodies started playing the communal card. The UNC, the All Naga Students’ Association Manipur, Senapati District Students’ Association stated that they will not accept bifurcation of “Naga areas” without the wishes and consent of the Naga people. After two weeks of the imbroglio the Manipur Cabinet decided to deploy foolproof security along the two National Highways to ensure normal traffic from August 16. Meanwhile, the SHDDC representatives left for New Delhi to present their case to the Prime Minister.

The gory and destruction of property will continue unless the state government put aside its adamant attitude. And if the indefinite bandh continues, a time is near when there will be acute shortage of essential commodities in the whole state.

The Churning
The historical marginalisation of the Kukis, and the people of Sadar Hills in particular, is mainly attributed to the measures adopted by the British colonialist followed by the successive Manipur and Central governments. During the British colonial period administrative posts were set up at Tamenglong and Ukhrul to displace the original Kuki bases of Laijang and Chassad. Whereas the District Councils dominated by the Nagas were upgraded to a full-fledged revenue districts in no time when Manipur attained statehood in 1972, the Kuki dominated District Councils, Sadar Hills and Tengnoupal, were left out although the later was upgraded in 1974. While the creation of districts such as Ukhrul and Tamenglong was not opposed by the Kukis living in those districts as it was based on administrative convenience. Putting the demand of Sadar Hills based on communal lines has eroded the whole fabric of collective Manipur life, incontestably.

The delay in granting districthood to Sadar Hills have denied the people the opportunities for all round development. In the memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister of Manipur on July 26, 2011, the SHDDC leaders estimated that an amount of Rupees 38,000 crores have been lost during the period of about 40 years due to delay in upgrading Sadar Hills to a revenue district. They lamented that such big amount of money could have been spent on socio-economic developments.

The general secretary of SHDDC, Tonghen Kipgen, stated that “we have lost our faith in the government due to their blatant lie of making promises after promises to grant Sadar Hills as a full fledged district”. To the supporters of Sadar Hills movement, it seems like the Manipur government is just paying lip service and continues to delude the people of Sadar Hills with false promises and the resulting false hopes.

Concluding Remarks
The demand to upgrade Sadar Hills to a full fledged district status is one of the longstanding district demands in the whole of India, which continues to linger in the politics of Manipur for the past four decades. It is ironic to see when the other five ADCs, which had been created together with Sadar Hills in 1971 were all granted full-fledged district status decades back, while the legitimate right of the people of Sadar Hills has been continually denied. When successive governments failed in their attempts to grant full fledged district status to Sadar Hills, more districts have been created in the valley in due course of time.

Even though the demand to upgrade Sadar Hills to a district predates the idea of bifurcating Imphal district, it was taken up together and was promised to be done together. While Imphal was bifurcated on June 18, 1997 into East and West districts, Sadar Hills was left in the dark. Now when the agitation in Sadar Hills arises again, the Chief Minister stated that Sadar Hills will be discussed together with the plan to create Jiribam district and the newly emerging demands to bifurcate Ukhrul and Churachandpur into two districts each. This shows great insensitive to the feelings of the people of Sadar Hills and breeds more of a sense of anger and frustration.

The delay in granting full-fledged revenue district has not only lost precious lives and unnecessary economic hardship during the agitations. The anger and frustration of the people of Sadar Hills can cause much damage, widening the gaps between the already fragile ethnic relations, and thereby even inciting communal feeling between ethnic groups.

However, granting full fledged revenue district status to Sadar Hills will undoubtedly improve not only the trust deficit that has been existing and dividing the Hill and Valley people, but also between the Kukis and Nagas in the hills of Manipur. If their demand is not taken care, there can be scaling in their demand and agitation as mentioned by the committee leaders.

It needs to be realised that all districts in Manipur were created based on administrative convenience and developmental needs and not based on communal lines. Justice denied to the people of Sadar Hills needs to be addressed soon so that peace and goodwill exists between the ethnic communities in Manipur.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/decades-of-sadar-hills-demand/

Nagas Stance On Sadar Hills : A Christianity Perspectives

By Songthu Raymond Chongloi When Sadar Hills districthood issue begins to catch th e headlines of some regional dailies I felt the need of understanding some of my Naga colleagues… Read more »

By Songthu Raymond Chongloi
When Sadar Hills districthood issue begins to catch th e headlines of some regional dailies I felt the need of understanding some of my Naga colleagues mindsets on the deadlock. The reason : several Naga organisation came in chorus warning another communal flare up in the state; like the one witnessed some two decades ago.

So, without disclosing my identity in detail I approach a Naga student leader if I am new to the issue. Before going deeper on the topic we briefly chatted. In the meantime I came to know that he was an active member of the church during his stay in Imphal, and did not hide being consulted often on every subject of the Nagas there in Manipur.

Then we proceeded. He spoke a lot about the Nagas love for independence,the rich cultural and traditional heritage,the extend of territories ,the historical records. etc.etc. which I find more to do with the Angamis ,Semas ,Lothas and Konyaks. On being enquired anything worth mentioning about the Manipur Nagas contribution towards the movement,he begins with the breakup of the NSCN in the 1980s,and keep on glorifying every action taken up by Sir Th Muivah. He continued,and blame the the Indian government for the Nagas ethnic cleansing drive on the Kukis in 1993.He also fired several accusations against the intelligence agencies for fueling the war. At some point of the interaction he was almost willing to admit that the government agencies collude with the Naga outfits.

Taking advantage of his statement I went deeper referring to the involvement of intelligent agencies in 1993 clash; the license issuance of about 600 single barrel guns by the then Deputy Commissioner of Ukhrul just before the outbreak of the clash,the accusation made against Chief Minister, Shri Rishang Keishing, as on the governor`s report that time,and some more. Interestingly as expected, he strongly disapproved .Instead he blamed the media for maligning the image of the Nagas. Then without a pause, he jumped over to the Sadar Hills issue which I too find more worthy to be discussed than the bygone years. As in the case of the war,he put a heavy load on the media. Also criticize the state government attitude against the Nagas. He continued,”there are nine districts in Manipur of which five are hill districts ,and the remaining four districs are dominated by the Meiteis. Out of the five hill districts one belongs to the Kukis and the other four belongs to the Nagas. This is not a propaganda but fact. If you need datas its with me,”he assures.

While he was totally lost on the topic I calmly opened my bag;took out a map of Manipur indicating the proposed map of Greater Nagaland, and showed to him with a wink on my eyes. With that he exclaimed:` that’s our long cherished dream…., “he took the map and have a surprise look on it.

And next –a map of Manipur indicating Senapati district and Sadar Hills in different shades. I showed at him. As expected his mood totally change all of a sudden. He was so disappointed, yet maintains his calm. “From where did you get that,” is his query on the map to me. He continued,”we believe in respecting others sentiment. So people ought to respect ours . In the event of declaration of Sadar Hills as a full fledge revenue district without Nagas consent …bloodshed is inevitable. All to be borne by the state government there. This is all we need to understand.,”he warned.

Now I put some of my queries and his replies:

Query:If Sadar Hills has been include d in the proposed map of Greater Nagaland, it could still be a Naga district even if it is declared a full fledged district?Am I right?

Reply:Not so. Sadar Hills , off course ,is dominated by the Kukis . I don’t think people favour merging it with the proposed Nagaland. The Kukis have been in the forefront opposing the Nagas movement now and then. For your knowledge Sadar Hills has been much apart of our ancestral land. This is a fact.

Query: Respecting other sentiment is one that Nagas believe. So if the Nagas continue this hell-bend attitude over the district hood status, would not it amount to disrespecting ones right ,especially the Kukis?

Reply: No. Respecting others right in no way mean giving away our land to somebody. We have the right to protect our land. We must not be divide by inimical forces.

Query: Then how far would you agree and prove that Sadar Hills is the land of the Nagas? Can you point me some fact or more importantly of its history on defence against foreign invaders-the British?

With this question,it seems,he was blown out of the cold. To my surprise he smiles at his cellphone that never rings; and inquired me to repeat the question complaining the language jargon. In doing so he pleaded,”such questions need an elaborate understanding on history. He keep on with little stumbling ,”those questions are to be asked to our leaders. Its out of my knowledge”. That was how we end the discussion,which perhaps,begins lively but ended without much to appreciate on the claims and stance of the Nagas. Well. As we go through the above interaction,I believe,one may be confused over a Naga leader attitude toward their Christian brethren. Surprisingly,if a leader who claims to be so God-fearing have a warlike attitude to someone then one can easily guess the perception the general Naga population ought to posses? The reason I penned this.

Now from the Christianity perspective. Some years back we have celebrated the joy of attaining a centenary-100th year of the arrival of Christianity in Manipur. It was expected that Christianity attains much maturity than before. However much against our expectation things seems to be murkier with the advancing years. The relationship one community maintains over the other is not going to wane easily. This is evident from the present crisis we face and the press statements issued against the other targeting the lesser privileged. To be little persuasive over the present demand I would like to set some record straight in the interest of all.

The Manipur (Hill Areas) Autonomous District Council Act, 1971 has a provision for creation of six autonomous districts of which Sadar Hills autonomous council was one among them. Therefore, the question of bifurcating Senapati of carving parts of the district to form Sadar

Hills never arise. The provision was made for administrative convenience; the same case that Senapati have. Under such circumstances Nagas communal tone over the issue is something hard to digest. Reason in defense may vary,but one may be pointed out. The sanctioned district has a mix population. No particular community could claim suzerainty over it. Off course the Kuki groups maintains the majority status with Nepali,Naga and Meitei community filling the leftover composition. But there is nothing to be so much to be alarmed off. Implanting fear to the general public is never to be encouraged.

One assumption may be, Naga leader fear of similar repercussions of what they did to the minority Kukis in the areas where they hold majority two decades back! If so,the Kukis stance on Sadar hills issue till date is clear-there is no communal tone from Kuki civil organisation like Kuki Inpi , KSO etc, except KPF statement rebuking Naga civil society stance on the issue. Such is a clear indication that there is no hidden political agenda from the side of Kukis.

Instead it is the general populace who wholly back the move. To keep in mind, the trend of one community dominating a district is a normal trend we have in the present day administration,yet we don’t find any ill consequences a result of such demarcation. Instead a mixed population is believe to have provided a better social environment due to intermingling of different colours. This also have proved to broadens one`s mindset to a large extend.

Taking advantage of the presence of a fraction of Nagas land with a scattered population of about 10%, Sadar Hills has been included in what is called the homeland of the Nagas thereby forcefully ignoring the rightful claims of the Sadar Hillites. As understood,the idea of gaining control of Sadar Hills is not a recent origin. The first open attempt came in the form of ethnic cleansing drive against the Kukis who constitute the bulk of the area, in 1993. To the disappointment of Naga leaders things could not be materialized as planned. Thank God!

The second such attempt came: the present deadlock. Never mind,our human mindsets are such that we don’t feel being bad as long as things are in our favour; but act harshly on things which deviates slightly against our wish. This type of perception full of egos –me,myself-is never to be found in the principle of the Christian faith. Rather it tells us to love our neighbor as we love thyself.

Beloved Naga Christians must sense this. While we tries to grab somebody`s right to make up our dreamland-Nagalim, we don’t want an inch of Nagas land to be included in an already sanctioned district which neither means separation or secession. These are the ills that infest Naga nation. It is a society where give and take,compromise and accommodation have no meaning.

So ,until we develop a sense of sympathy for others we have no reason to tell the world –we are proud to be a children of the Lord. Rising up his name without upholding the principles of the Christian faith will only tantamount to insult on the Savior. The sweet motto like `Nagalim for Christ” has been used far and wide these days ,however, the banner has been used only to invite hatred upon the Naga society,and more importantly the church image.

Let peace prevail !!
Writer can be contacted at raymond.chongloi@gmail.com

Kuki Black Day: September 13

By Thenkhogin Haokip “By the rivers of our life, yea, we sat and we wept, when we remember 13th September.” Thousands of years ago, the Israelites’ had sat by the… Read more »

By Thenkhogin Haokip
“By the rivers of our life, yea, we sat and we wept, when we remember 13th September.”

Thousands of years ago, the Israelites’ had sat by the rivers of Babylon, weeping for their lost freedom, family members and country. They had been driven to a very strange situation by their enemies. Those were the time, when the beautiful ideas of liberty, fraternity, democracy and most of all, Human Rights were not yet born or at least materialized.

In the 21st Century CE, a similar song had to be sung mournfully every 13th September by a nation, very insignificant in the eyes of the biggest and largest democracy. These singers had to compose this deep sentimental composition not because of the Chaldeans or the Babylonians, but because of those who spearheaded the “Nagalim for Christ,” at the century decade of receiving Christ’s message of love. Would Christ’s love butchered-off the heads of innocent man, women and children without the slightest sense of pity? Will the pioneers in receiving Christ’s love spearhead the murder of 1000 innocent Christian lives? It is in fact, the devil in sheep’s clothing.

In the years 1990’s the NSCN (IM) had done which the devil himself would hesitate to do, without a moment of hesitation, torturing, butchering, raping and disfiguring to the extreme, thousands of helpless, defenseless people, burning-off villages, imprinting in the surviving hearts such impression which no amount of detergent could wash-off anymore. The people who proudly claimed to be the first to receive the Gospel in Manipur had carried out the devils gospel upon the unprepared helpless Kukis. A century of the Gospel of Christ had taught them to hate, kill and butcher mercilessly, which the writer as a Christian never did come across as a commandment from God to do likewise. Instead, the scripture says “Love your enemies as yourself.”

The then governments both the State as well as the Centre turns blind eye to these historical massacre. When the helpless people had to wipe-off their tears and stood-up to fight back, then the government armies intervened. The murderers were always backed by the government agents in killing the Kukis.

The Manipur Kacha-Naga’s are not real Christians as long as they shared the same cup with the devil-NSCN (I-M). Believed me, the naked Tangkhuls had been properly clothed by Christianity, but now their cloths are torn. They thought they would change their cloths after the commit such grievous sin. But they cannot change history. Uprooting, molesting, killing innocent people, is that what Christ stands for?

Why September 13?
During the NSCN (I-M) campaign for ethnic cleansing in the hills of Manipur, many innocent Kuki lives had been lost, starting from 1950’s, highly aggravated during 1992-93. Quit Notices were served to Kuki people living peacefully in their villages in all parts of Manipur. The Kukis vacated many of their villages. A Quite Notice was also served to the Kuki people in Zoupi Village, Tamenglong District of Manipur. A deadline was fixed for them before which they had to vacate their village. Thus, the Kuki people unwilling to resist the dictates of the devilish NSCN (I-M) vacated the village before the deadline and move away from the village as a caravan toward Taphou. However, the devils intercepted them on the way, stop them, separated all the man, tight their hands at the back, blindfolded them and started butchering-off their heads (not wanting to spent bullets on them) killing 88 helpless, defenseless man at the spot in broad day light in the sight of their women and children. Another incident on the same day, at Gelnel Village in Sadar Hills District, 13 helpless Kukis were brutally murdered, 4 persons at Santing Village and yet another 3 at Nungthut Village (Tamenglong District). All together the death toll of the day reached 108 on 13th September 1993.

The world turned dark with helplessness and pain for the Kukis with no one to help, even as the state government at the time was in the hands of a Naga Chief Minister Shri Rishang Keishing (May he live long) who was the strength and source of the devilish NSCN (I-M). The Government still supports and protects Th. Muivah and his NSCN (I-M) just like what the Americans had done decades ago to Osama bin Laden and his Al-Quada. The Kukis lost more than 900 lives in the hands of the NSCN (I-M). Thus, the Kukis decided to bemoan the death of all their kinsman, women and children on 13th September every year. A decade has passed; nothing is done to the criminals. They (NSCN-IM) neither admits their crime and make amends nor say sorry to their Christian Brothers (Kukis), for which this Black Day is observed still today.
Author is a Research Scholar, Assam University, Silchar.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/kuki-black-day-september-13/

Sardar Hills Issue Peopling & Role of leaders

by RS Jassal Many have given their views over genealogy creation of Sadar Hills including one new version by Lt.Col. Rajender Singh Retd that it stands for Special Area Development… Read more »

by RS Jassal
Many have given their views over genealogy creation of Sadar Hills including one new version by Lt.Col. Rajender Singh Retd that it stands for Special Area Development Region by Mr. Maxwell. However if you scan the development done there is hardly any evidence traceable. After careful study of some history books, articles and assessments from ground realties it stands:

Pertinent Realties
(a) How Pettigrew was settled at Mission Compound Kangpokpi after his initial stay at Ukhrul objected to by the then locals at Ukhrul.
(b) First ever cantonment of 129 houses belonging to Kuki’s was established at Keithelmanbi Chief of Keitheilmanbi who happens to have retired from Assam Regt is holding documents with him.
(c) Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh’s wife Princess Ishwari Devi brought 200 retinue of Gorkhas with her as part of royal send off. Bulk of them were settled at Irangpat I & Irangpat II. This location extends Kalapahar – IT road to Chhalwa hills on IT road short of Tamei.
(d) There are three to four houses belonging to Bhutia’s also settled on IT road & about 40 to 60 Buddhist were settled around in Moreh/Tamu, perhaps all with proper agreement of the Regent Maharaja and Communities having permanent controls over their lands.
(e) Yangangpokpi to Litan – New Heaven are having a good number of Kuki villages & Nepali dwellings intermittently staying, together. Interestingly , Litan, Sawungmong (Tumionpokpi) on Kangpokpi- Hengbung road, Mayangthana, Mayang Naga on same road & Chiru Kangchup with Chiroi Humdangba are mixed population – Naga on one side & Kuki on the other in West on Silchar road indicate – close , agreed settlements since past century or above. To Saikul in East & areas where these settlements are, appear to have been lying vacant at some stage or the other. This buffer zone for fears from either side valley/hills might have dictated to remain unoccupied. So Regent/Maharaja created Sadar areas like elsewhere in India – Delhi Sadar,Jallandar Sadar, Lucknow Sadar-, Benares Sadar & so on meaning by areas closer to main HQ were writ of the Britishers prevailed and in Sadars Hills settlements desired by them invited no problems: Please give analystic thought to it.

Present Status:
Population wise it meets all the requirements for a revenue district ADC office with enhanced powers is functional. People representing all the communities are staying amicably and without problems except with Damocles’ sword hanging over heads of Kuki’s and milestone of past hanging on the neck of Nagas both for treatment beyond their control since ailment is reality.

Govt. of India & Manipur are trying hard to find out solution without hurting any community(s) psyche. Many moderate Nagas also wish that district can be created but with mutual discussions & understanding. It is also a fact even if district is not declared; its functioning will not diminish in value & content. The present day population cannot be evicted, since areas were never measured from revenue point of view. It will be a Herculean task to decide on boundaries in a perfect manner. Nagas say boundaries first, Kuki’s say District first. Government does not desire to disappoint any community. PM of India Dr. Manmohan Singh says at no cost any community be put against other for narrow political ends. Both sides are governed not by conscience BUT by people with guns behind which is dangerous.

Suggested Solution
All communities must respect the wisdom of Hon’ble Chief Minister and regard the Chief Secretary as a representation of godly court to decide on the boundaries of this would be extant district where weight age be given to the ‘district of the people’ and not ‘district of ethnics’.

Kuki sticking to economic blockade conveys the ethnic colour when we talk of having a district of the people. So in all fairness, economic blockade must be called off. Full use of 90 days for the Chief Secretary to submit report be made, with liberalism, so that concerned Naga, Kuki and Gorkhas can move out to the Secretariat for submitting their views and documents freely and frankly.

Need of the hour:
No body should issue any inflammatory statement to vitiate the atmosphere. The more we delay, the more loss of developmental hours for the economic uplifment of ‘common man’ Let this solution prove that leaders once determine to solve a problem are really capable of doing so when moving in real earnest.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/sardar-hills-issue-peopling-role-of-leaders/

The Sadar Hills

by Heigrujam Nabashyam Sadar Hills has long ceased to be a question of district. The Manipur government cannot pretend or be in denial of this development; nor that would help… Read more »

by Heigrujam Nabashyam
Sadar Hills has long ceased to be a question of district. The Manipur government cannot pretend or be in denial of this development; nor that would help in any way. Fact is, Sadar Hills has become two opposing world views of the two contending parties. In plain words, the question appears to be : who owns Sadar Hills ?

The question finds a direct root in the British legacy of the colonial days. It has born out of the British policy of reserving moles and hills of the then Manipur for the hill dwellers for their convenience and strategy. And this legacy of the British administration was the original and primary source of the ideas such as one’s ancestral land, etc.

And what was equally, if not more, responsible for the development of this kind of historical junk – classification, identification and reservation of the natural landscape by the colonial people, was the pathological fear of the subservient minds of the British subjects of Manipur – perhaps the post-British generations, too of this godforsaken beautiful land – that did not question the whimsical act that ultimately led to the growth of conceptual and cerebral fissure in the society of Manipur on the hill-valley line.

Man by nature are greedy; once given an opportunity, it would be very difficult to make one share it later that opportunity with another, because it becomes one’s nature and would ultimately claim it to be one’s birthright, etc.

Manipur, even after coming of age, when values of equality, fraternity and democracy was the Mantra of our politics, 90 percent of the land of Manipur are out of reach even for the fellow brethren. This is unthinkable in a civilized world. And this is the source of many of the ills and problems of the weird world of Manipur.

Now, politics is the name of this game. But to play the game there should be a fair and legitimate norm. What Manipur in today is, the game is being played on an uneven, unfair and absolutely illegitimate ground. This is the curse and that we are all under its spell. We have even forgotten, under the spell of course, that it is destroying all of us without any distinction.

Definitely our first task is to come out of this spell and that this won’t be an easy task too. But this is what politics and the political activists – especially the elected representatives – are expected to perform; because that would decide what the future and our immediate tomorrow, too – would hold for us in this badly blighted land.

The Sadar Hills is one such ill, born out of this curse. But what is unfortunate is the government fails to inspire confidence in the minds of the public that it would find a durable solution so that we can bear the pains and sufferings that are inflicted on us by its habitual inactivity. People expect words from the chief minister that would evoke confidence in us that Manipur is not a Mapu Paandaba Lum – a land with no one in charge.

Even an SPF government apologist must understand that the health of this ancient land have seriously deteriorated during the rule of this most stable government ever.

Everybody knows Sadar Hills is a complicated problem. But the government has to handle it one way or the other. That is the job of the government.

Recalling the last upheaval of the Sadar Hills during W. Nipamacha’s period – I had the privilege as a member of a group of social activists, to interact and discuss the issue of Sadar Hills with the members of SHDDC led by its Chairman and the General Secretary – that was a serious meeting, though unofficial. When I talked to the members of the Committee, I had pointed out that Sadar Hills was much more than a question of district, rather it had become a symbol of Manipur. It is a microcosm of Manipur and no community can play the communal card and every community must respect it.

I had also pointed out that bandh/blockade of the Sadar Hills to demand upgradation into a district was not commensurate to the importance and beauty of the Sadar Hills that bind all the districts of Manipur – hills and valley together.

On behalf of the group of activists and on behalf of the then suffering public, I made the appeal to withdraw the strike/bandh because that had only lessen the importance of Sadar Hills and would ultimately destroy its own beauty.

Luckily nobody from the SHDDC had contradicted or opposed to what I had proposed.

The next day the SHDDC withdrew the strike/bandh after signing an agreement with the W. Nipamacha Singh government.

A decade had gone and the spirit of Sadar Hills remains the same; but the issue of Sadar Hills aggravates. The problem is, our political leaders appear to have lost on the decades-old issue. And let nobody be under the illusion that Delhi has the solution unless our elected rulers do their homework.

It is them to understand the intricacies of the matter; pinpoint areas to be focused; visualize and plan for viable alternatives only then Delhi or whoever, can help us. But sadly, the SPF government seems to have abdicated its responsibility. Do we not deserve a responsible government that would steer clear of the mess made by the O. Ibobi Singh government?

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/the-sadar-hills/

Where Is My Right To Live

by AW Khaiyar The Govt. of Manipur has often interpreted the RIGHT TO FREEDOM in shrink in the constitution of India into two terms. Countless of evil incident and event… Read more »

by AW Khaiyar
The Govt. of Manipur has often interpreted the RIGHT TO FREEDOM in shrink in the constitution of India into two terms. Countless of evil incident and event have been encountered by common citizens of our state, to my surprise the price of life differ from community inspite of the same cases. May be its not worthwhile to mention but situation compels me to state the genuine facts that the government of Manipur is solely responsible for lawlessness in the state: the concern department never take positive steps least the situation is out of control, the nature of bandh, strike, blockage, hunger stick, etc, etc is the seed sawn by our government and now people are suffering in cultivating all these miseries. One cannot see any good Samaritans from present government other than discovering the most deadliness poison environment of communalism and senseless responsible. Believe or not you will never or else hardly see VIPs on their headlight visiting the deceased nor hear condolence nor they will shed crocodile tears when tribals are the culprits needless to mentioned ex-gratia. No citizens of Manipur will deny me in saying whenever any students from privilege class(Meitei) molest, harass, fail to notice their where about, the whole city is ceased with placard of solidarity of peace and appeals and heed the heart of ………………. But my Sister belongs to non privilege class (Tribal) have only mourning dear ones with their tears and lovely last garlands. No worldly placard, no ex-gratia and no condolence but surly our God is with you and may He grant you an eternal life. Dear fellow beings I have no say of disparities: rich or poor, friends or enemy, when we are struggling for live but it’s our moral responsible to respect the lifeless body. Senseless activities are increasing day after day people with attitude of “the law is with me” increases taking advantage of deteriorating government. Silence is not always indicator of acceptance rather it may be a sign of desperation in case of the minority community in Manipur, every steps of our government is incidentally or intentionally widening the gap between the love of the valley and the hills. Our sister who is found dead with marks of strangulation and multiple injuries found half naked at Cheiroching, Chingmeirong under Lamphel Police Station is morning with pain claiming where “WOMAN DIGNITY” is where is “MY FREEDOM TO LIVE” waiting the government to answer.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/where-is-my-right-to-live/

The Quality of Mercy

by B.G. Verghese The past week has seen witnessed impassioned appeals that the death sentences passed against the LTTE killers of Rajiv Gandhi, Afzal Guru, sentenced for his role in… Read more »

by B.G. Verghese
The past week has seen witnessed impassioned appeals that the death sentences passed against the LTTE killers of Rajiv Gandhi, Afzal Guru, sentenced for his role in the attack on Parliament House in December 2001, and the Khalistan Liberation Font terrorist, Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, for bombing a Indian Youth Congress gathering in Delhi in 1993, be commuted from life to death sentences. The argument made out is that they have been on death row for unconscionably long without disposal of their mercy petitions and thereby made to die a thousand agonising deaths.

This is a valid point and there is absolutely no reason why these matters have been kept pending for so very long across different regimes. Article 72 of the Constitution stipulates no deadline by when the Home Ministry/Government should make its recommendation to the President. If decisions have not been taken it is because governments have sought to trade stern duty by pandering to political constituencies. As long as the Constitution provides for the death penalty (which the Supreme Court awards in “the rarest of rare cases”), unless there has been a miscarriage of justice, or new evidence or other compelling circumstances, – such as Nalini, one of the Rajiv assassination accused, giving birth to a child in jail – it should not take more than a few weeks for the decision to be announced. Most often, delay itself invites political play and the building up of pressure from interested quarters, national or international, to impede decision-making. This is the trap into which governments have repeatedly fallen across parties and have only themselves to blame.

As long as capital punishment remains on the Indian statute it should be laid down that unless a mercy petition is decided within four weeks of the final sentence, the Supreme Court’s verdict will stand and any death sentence executed within a week thereafter.

However, it is passionately argued, that most countries have abolished the death penalty and it is only befitting that as a democratic, liberal state, India should follow suit. This is not without merit – though terror perhaps stands on a somewhat different footing; but as long as the law is the law, it must be observed and there should be no shifting of goalposts. If capital punishment is abolished tomorrow than let all future heinous crimes be heard and decided in that context. Fiddling with due process can open the door to other ills.

It is argued that the execution of Iqbal Butt, the killer of the Indian diplomat, Mhatre in Birmingham, years ago, stimulated resentment and anger among anti-national and jihadi elements in J&K and Pakistan and that the execution of Afzal Guru and Bhullar could trigger similar reactions. These arguments must be dismissed out of hand as caving in to terrorist blackmail. For the same reason, any mercy petition by Ajmal Kasab should not be given consideration on such pusillanimous grounds. In each and every case, the decision must rest on merit. The Tamil Nadu Assembly recently adopted a resolution calling for commutation of the death sentences imposed on the Rajiv killers. The Punjab Assembly is contemplating passing a similar resolution in regard to Bhullar. And now a J&K MLA has introduced a similar motion for clemency for Afzal Guru “in keeping with the aspirations of the people”.

This of course is undiluted nonsense and confuses legitimate debate on the merits of capital punishment with playing politics.

Anna Hazare’s fast has also triggered debate on the legitimacy of that form of protest in a day and age – unlike the Gandhian era – when the country has a democratic Constitution, a representative and popularly elected Parliament to which the Executive is duly accountable, a judiciary subject to due process and a free and powerful media. A two or three day self-purificatory fast is one thing but a fast unto death (howsoever named) is tantamount to suicide which is a cognisable offence under law. Such fasts amount blackmail as the coercive element lies in the threat of public disorder and violence in case of death.

It is for this reason that Irom Sharmila’s 11-year fast in Imphal, though greatly moving and distressing, has resulted in her being restrained and forced-fed. This writer too believes that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, should be repealed in its present form and any essential provisions should be incorporated in other legislation, as recommended by the Jeevan Reddy Commission. Irom Sharmila has appealed to Anna Hazare to endorse her demand and even to visit Imphal. A visit might be problematic as it could confuse matters by conflating issues.

Anna plans to watch the process and content of Parliament’s enactment of a Lok Pal Bill on the basis of the recommendations of the Standing Committee after a full examination of all and everybody s demands and suggestions. The unanimous Parliamentary resolution adopted on August 27 said no more than this despite much posturing and divergent interpretations by sections of “civil society” and the media. However, Anna now says he will resume an indefinite fast should the outcome not be to his satisfaction. This could be no more than another case of careless reporting. There can be no supplanting of democratic consensus by authoritarian diktat and blackmail. One trusts Team Anna will not be so foolhardy as to tread this path.

As in the case of corruption, numerous civil society groups and government agencies are dealing with many other burning issue such as electoral reform, political party reform, police reforms and so forth all of which have a bearing on good governance. The Aadhar (UID) programme will itself vastly strengthen the government’s ability to improve governance by more accurately targeting those who should benefit from various rights based programmes and replacing money transactions with e-banking payments. None should think they can muscle in at any point and at any time and seek to appropriate such vital national programmes on the basis a narrow agenda set by a small, self-appointed coterie in the name of “civil society”.

While the law must take its course every time, the Government and Parliament too would be advised not to appear vindictive or stand unduly on privilege. At the same time, Anna cannot bristle over the fact that tax notices have been served on Kejriwal (and Baba Ramdev). Let the matter be settled expeditiously one way or the others. No one is above the law, even if only a technical offender. Anna is categorical that Kejriwal is innocent. Maybe But in defending Kejriwal he has labelled government servants liars and wily fraudsters and the Home Minister, Chidambaram as a “mischievous man” and habitual liar. This is not the first time Anna and his team have used such abusive language.

The media too must examine its role as part “farce multiplier” through what was in some ways embedded and biased reportage and commentary. The Independent Broadcast Regulatory Authority under Justice J.S. Verma should look into this matter de novo and Government would do well to prepare a draft Bill for regulating the broadcast media, and refashioning the Press Council, in the interests of maintaining the health and vigour of what is today the most powerful Estate in the land.
www.bgverghese. com

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/the-quality-of-mercy/

Indian Cinema – a Retrospect

by Subir Ghosh The Indian film industry is one of the largest in the world, and Indian cinema is unmatched in its variety. Tracing the history of Indian cinema through… Read more »

by Subir Ghosh
The Indian film industry is one of the largest in the world, and Indian cinema is unmatched in its variety. Tracing the history of Indian cinema through the traditional methods is not tedious – it is too gargantuan a task. This column will revisit Indian film history, and look at various aspects of Indian films and individuals who have made Indian films so memorable, through different prisms. This week, we take a look at ten celebrated collaborators. There would be needless to say problems with this list, for no finite list can be all-encompassing. Maybe, those who have been missed out can be covered under a list of a different kind.

Himansu Rai and Franz Osten: In the 1930s when Bombay Talkies was launched as a public limited company, founder and one of the pioneers of Indian cinema Himansu Rai gathered the who’s who of talented young Germans of the time. Among them were filmmaker Franz Osten, cinematographer Josef Wirsching, sound engineer LenHartley and architect Karl von Spreti. Osten directed films like Jawani Ki Hawa (1935), Achhut Kanya (1936), Jeevan Naiyya (1936), Janambhoomi (1936) and Jeevan Prabhat (1937). After Rai died in 1940, the Germans left India. Bombay Talkies too collapsed soon.
V Damle and S Fatehlal: The two were the Prabhat Film company partners, who directed films like Sant Tukaram in the 1930s. They excelled with other spiritual/religious films like Gopal Krishna (1929) and Sant Dnyaneshwar (1940). The latter had one of the earliest forms of a freeze shot in Indian film history. Unfortunately, both died in oblivion, and remain unknown entities, despite making socially relevant films in both Hindi and Marathi.

Naushad and Mehboob Khan: They were known as the mega pair of blockbusters: Andaz (1949), Aan (1952), Mother India (1957) and Son of India (1962). Their partnership was legion. Changes in the script by the director would upset the composer, and the latter would often suggest changes while the shooting would be on. Their collaboration went way beyond that of a filmmaker and a musician: each often had a say on the other’s work.

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and VP Sathe: The two made an unusual pair of writers, when they worked on screenplays. Their collaborations ranged from V Shantaram’s Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946) to Raj Kapoor’s Barsaat (1949), Shree 420 (1955) and Bobby (1973).

Satyajit Ray and Bansi Chandragupta: At one point of time, there seemed to be little change in the credits of Satyajit Ray’s films, and among these was the name of Bansi Chandragupta as art director / production designer. The latter remained a constant right from the Apu trilogy of Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959), to Jalsaghar (1958), Devi (1960), Teen Kanya (1961) and finally Shatranj Ke Khiladi (1977). The partnership ended only with Chandragupta’s demise in 1981.

Shakti Samanta and Gulshan Nanda: The first was a filmmaker, and the second the uncrowned king of Hindi paperbacks. When they teamed up, they came up with one hit after another: Aradhana (1969), Kati Patang (1970), Ajnabee (1974) and Mehbooba (1976), incidentally all starring the star of the time – Rajesh Khanna. Once they split, each had a range of flops. Samanta’s started with Anand Ashram (1977) and Nanda’s with Jheel Ke Us Paar (1973).

Dev Anand, Vijay Anand and Sachin Dev Burman: When the two brothers from the Nav Ketan group made a film, it would be a foregone conclusion that the score would be provided by SD Burman. The films would be a hit, and so would the songs: Funtoosh (1956), Kala Pani (1958), Guide (1965), Tere Mere Sapne (1971). When SD’s son Rahul Dev emerged on the scene, he took over in Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971), another resounding success.

Raj Kapoor, Radhu Karmakar and Mukesh: The grand showman of Bollywood had two constants: cameraman Radhu Karmakar and playback singer Mukesh. Karmakar worked as cinematographer in each of Kapoor’s films. The filmmaker even credited him for directing Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1960) when Karmakar wanted to go his own way. Mukesh made Kapoor’s songs immortal with his voice, right from Barsaat in 1948 till his death in 1976. Kapoor could not get over his friend’s death, and made the latter’s son Nitin Mukesh sing for Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978).

Guru Dutt and Johnny Walker: This was possibly one of the strangest of combinations to be seen in mainstream Hindi cinema: the king of tragedy and the king of comedy together. If that was not all, Walker would more often than not be cast in song sequences: from Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) to Chaudvin Ka Chand (1960). They remained inseparable till the end.

Shankar and Jaikishan: If there was a charbusting duo, it was this. From the ‘Teri pyari pyari surat ko’ in Sasural to ‘Ramaiyya vastavaiyya’ in Shree 420. In the 50s and 60s they reigned supreme, and was the most sought-after composer pair in the industry. After Jaikishan died in 1971, his partner continued with the same Shankar-Jaikishan name, but could not meet with the same amount of success. By the time Shankar died in 1987, they music industry had changed.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/indian-cinema-a-retrospect/

What killed the Python?

By: Deben Sharma A rare species of Python 12 ft long, gracefully beautiful, came in the fire line of a hunter’s gun somewhere 33 kms from Ukhrul town in… Read more »

By: Deben Sharma

No law or Act on protection of wild life, in place, saved the reptile, neither any environmentally aware local initiative worked in difference to the cultural tradition of targeting the Python as priced catch to celebrate and rejoice

A rare species of Python 12 ft long, gracefully beautiful, came in the fire line of a hunter’s gun somewhere 33 kms from Ukhrul town in Manipur. I just wished Python did not appear at all or disappeared suddenly. Alash! that was not to be! It is gone for ever for our children never to see again. It was shocking but a joyous event in that remote community to share the kill, so valued, to the taste of the cultural tradition.
What missed the point? No law or Act on protection of wild life, in place, saved the reptile, neither any environmentally aware local initiative worked in difference to the cultural tradition of targeting the Python as priced catch to celebrate and rejoice.

Yet, neither a python waited for a hunter or a hunter chance upon a python every now and then but for the belief in the medicinal value. And, perhaps for the new found commercial tag the rare animal carried on its head and hide for the elites that got the whole of the length: head and tale intact all the way to Ukhrul town for a display in the market but not in a formalin jar.

It seems to have simply disappeared in digestion channels without a trace to discover as though it never existed but to tell the story – the Python walked into the traditional cooking pot for the belief in better health!
Do the Pythons walk into every cooking pot? Nay, no wild animal are banned to walk into the traditional pot in the neighboring Angamis Village, Khonoma – the birth place of Legendary figure AZ Phizo. Few years ago, the Village Council of Khonoma resolved to ban hunting within the village territory and notified to all citizens of the village. The law was enforced with vigilance and fines. Youth society of the village felt the Village law was in contravention to their youthful hunting adventures, the technologies, skills and practices handed over to them from their elders – the traditional ways of life.

When the village council realized the displeasures of the youth, they immediately acted upon. Series of meetings were held with the youth in the village to reason out why there was a need to change the tradition and tame their hunting instincts. Youth finally agreed and became part of village the prohibitory law enforcement agency to give wild animals a chance to live their lives free from fears and to prevent them walking into the cooking pot in their ignorance. The Village Chief in his recent visit to Imphal shared their new found joy in the village with number of wild species returning to house in the reserve forests of the community in their increasing population in the village territory.

Children in the village wake up the calls and musical nodes of different birds and animals early in the morning, everyday to set out to schools. Still earlier, Nagaland state Government was more proactive to put a state-wide ban on hunting wild animals in close cooperation with Village councils. How far the law has been followed is different question.

In the meantime, prosperity comes to Khonoma village. The conscious decisions of the village elders to preserve their traditional cultural heritage, which cradled historic events and personalities, have brought dividend to the village by the inflow of tourists. But what has raised the curiosities of people from outside, even more, is their stories of befriending with the wild animals, managing the ecology rather than becoming a problem to it, and living in the cozy comforts of their natural environment. The days are much nearer, when every sound in the forest will sleep in silence in our hills, not even the pitter-patter of the rain drops to hear, then, we will go to Khonoma village, on educational tours with our children, to chat with the monkeys, to sing with the birds, and to play horse ridding on or wrestle with big fat Python friends in lap of natural environment.

On our return journey we will answer what killed the Python.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/what-killed-the-python/

Introduction to Heritage Conservation

By: Kamaljit Ksh Cultural Heritage: Anything that relates culture and has been handed over to us by our predecessors. It can be Tangible or Intangible. Tangible Heritage refers to those… Read more »

By: Kamaljit Ksh

Cultural Heritage:

Anything that relates culture and has been handed over to us by our predecessors. It can be Tangible or Intangible.

Tangible Heritage refers to those examples that possess a physical form i.e. objects that could be seen and touched by us. E.g. sculptures,monuments, paintings, archaeological tools and implements, etc.
Intangible Heritage refers to that part of culture that cannot be touched as they do not have a physical form, e.g. music, dance, etc.

Q. Why to safeguard the Cultural Property?

– Every object of art has a message for the present and future generation.

Cultural property has following values attached to it:-
1.Aesthetic value

2.Historic value

3.National value

4.Scientific or research value

What is Heritage-Conservation?

Prevention is better than cure

Conservation as we know it today is a complex activity. Since the nineteenth century, it has broadened in scope, strengthened in importance and, simply
speaking, come of age. It has not always been in this way; just a few decades ago before that, it did not even exist-it did not exist as we know it: as a
particular activity, requiring special, well-trained skills, which are different from those of the artist, the carpenter or the sculptor.

Terms and Definitions:

Heritage Conservation: It is a profession devoted to the preservation of cultural heritage for the future. Conservation activities include examination, documentation, treatment, and preventive care.
Examination: It is the foremost step in Conservation of any art objects. It may be of simple visual examination using hand lens, mechanical examination using sable-hair brushes and scientific examination using Spectrometer, XRF, etc.
Documentation: It is one of the most important steps in Conservation. It is the records which comprises of history, condition of the object when found, treatment to be given etc. It is an ongoing process till all the treatments will be carried out.
Treatment: If an object has inherent vice, preventive measures may not be enough to reduce the rate of deterioration to a tolerable level. An acceptable treatment can prolong the life of an object. When an object becomes extremely fragile from deteriorating factors, appropriate treatment is a must to increase its stability and durability.
Preservation: It is the act of keeping safe or free from further harm or decay of the objects displayed in the Museum or stored in the storage by following any indigenous methods (e.g. Wrapping the Manuscript with red clothes and using neem, tobacco leaves as insect repellents) or chemical methods (e.g. Using Silica gel as Humidifier).
Restoration: There is a misconception that Conservation and Restoration are essentially the same things. Restoration can be simply defined as the act of repairing or trying to bring back to a former position or condition of the object or artefacts adopting different conservative norms. The difference? In a nutshell, Conservation is preservation while Restoration is repair.
Preventive Care: As most of the Cultural works are sensitive to environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity and exposure to light and UV light, they must be protected in a controlled environment where such variables are maintained within a range of damage-limiting levels. And it is always true that “Prevention is better than cure”, so the preventive cares is of extreme importance for preserving and checking any possible further harmful effects to the objects or artefacts.

The article was sent to Kanglaonline.com by Kamaljit Ksh. Heritage Conservation (Student) National Museum Institute, New Delhi

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/introduction-to-heritage-conservation/

VOTE FOR RESISTANCE

Our social clock is ticking faster than the rattling machine guns in these midnight hours of our collective lives, disturbing every little tranquillity that we supposedly possess as modern human beings. But the irony is, without any hope for a coming dawn, we are getting lost in the darkness — one foot on murky water, another on fleeting, listless time of a lost generation. At this critical moment, we need to make some decisive resolutions and we need to vote for resistance.

In less than a year, we will be having the general election. A festival of the unknown majority. A celebration of false political freedom. Are we going to repeat the usual mistake again? It is an error that we go to cast our vote with some squashy realisation that we live in a modern society of computers and space technology, when we are aware of the incorrigible and obvious failing of governance and administration plus the all-round grime and grunge. We have to learn to say no against bluffs. Say no against primitive living. It will be a blunder if we cannot see our own mistake even after all these elections which we have in the name of democracy, when Manipur exists as a small branch to the tree of the Great Union of India while the big tree sees us not more than a frontier area, where it is all about military and authoritarian roots.

If we are too pessimist that we are just a small branch, then we will have to continue with our miserable lives and only have to wait for a miracle that will come one fine day, when we will stop equating life with simply fighting for survival, but live and compare it with blooming flowers and limitless skies. And if we are too lethargic that we can find contentment in election fever, calling it dearly as a five-year affair that comes only once in a while, so be it. But this cannot continue forever. We know it. The decadence of values in our society is nothing but our own defect.

Our collective lives are desperate for some rationality. The only logic, if we would ever care is the idea of oneness, the belongingness to humanity. Let us stop the blame game. Let us stop going to the election campaign. Let us vote for freedom.

Our purpose is to find a way ourselves and a lesson to teach our political masters in a plain political sense: A means to get rid of the mundane anarchy which we see in our time, in a general sense, as lawlessness and disorder. But if we look at ourselves honestly and the issues and matters around us, we can see clearly we don’t have enough time in this darkness to dig deeper into the political philosophies and engross ourselves into rhetoric and deliberation. Simple put, it’s time to act. It’s time to act against the injustice and lies of our time.

When the government has failed us, when the insurgent groups have lost their plots miserably, when the authority has turned their back on us, we have only one choice: Look after ourselves. Why should we always victimise ourselves? Why should we always vote for the open-secret, illicit relationship between the politicians, contractors and militants? We must vote for resistance, not simply with a thumb impression on a piece of paper with several meaningless party symbols promising us half-baked lies, but for the real change that we aspire for and would love to see around us. The blot on our finger is a blot on humanity; nothing can be worse than this blot in our voiceless generation.

We are too naïve when it comes to election on two counts: firstly, we are gullible as well as immature to vote for the right candidate, if one exists at all; and secondly, our voices are too silent in the cacophonic mainland parliament. Overall the argument is not about the dictatorship of the proletariat or an uprising of the masses for good, but rather the rekindling of hope from the lowest strata of the society — in stoking the embers of an awareness that we are living in the 21st century and that we can expect a lot more from our collective lives, by transforming ourselves into a peaceful and just society.

Let’s talk of no reason when there is none. Our collective lives are desperate for some rationality. The only logic, if we would ever care is the idea of oneness, the belongingness to humanity. Let us stop the blame game. Let us stop going to the election campaign. Let us vote for freedom. Our society is our group. Our group is made up of individuals, thence everything depends on us, each one of us. If election is the thing we care, then the outcome is ours. Looking back, looking sideways, however, we can see there is no one who is happy with it and that each one of us long for a real change. The change is us and only us.

On hindsight — to the delight of the cynics, the pseudo-believers of democracy and the prying eyes of the sadists, all of them who are found galore in every leikai and leirak — nothing is going to change for us. But we can just give it a try. In the name of humanity. In the name of peace. In the name of liberty. We can see, yours truly believe, we are not approaching from a textbook approach, but from the most realistic idea: stop going to the election booth for a new world, to forsake the despicable society we live in today. The same cynics mentioned above would suggest an ‘action-able’ overture, like fighting face to face at the ground. But we need a starting point and this write-up only means to be the initial push-button, free of street politics and kowtowing to the dictates of the several masters: captain New Delhi, the spineless state government and the rudderless militant groups. Ironical this is again, though we are helping them by dint of our decadence and indifference while we let ourselves getting drowned in the currents of our time.

Can we have an alternative plan to the common tried-and-failed attacks with violent protests on the streets that occur once or twice every year, that explode only after a major issue? Can we have a durable agenda to find a lasting solution to the mess and maze of our neglected, battered hinterland? Can we just go beyond the freebies which come so cheaply around election time? Dispirited civil and frontal organisations here and there. The commoners everywhere. We know we are the first group, the buck can be easily passed onto, and we also know there are only two results: either we continue living the lives of the great unwashed in these filthy surroundings of blood, bombs and bullets as if we were destined to, or stop participating in the election mess while we write the stories of our lives with the help of sweat and conscience.

Fortunately, it’s only a matter of choice. We can divert our way from the local primary schools and elsewhere where polling takes place, and instead we can vote for a shared consciousness that will last long, much more than these lightless midnight hours in which we have forgotten the time, simply fighting for a piece of land and this and that, competing for how much we can amass, stealing and looting and killing, all in the name of the land. Folks, the choice is all ours.

The article is sent to Kanglaonline.com by TAOTHINGMANG LUWANGCHA, The Society of Liberal Radicals

Contact Him @ thesolirad[at]gmail.com

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/vote-for-resistance/

NAGAS STANCE ON SADAR HILLS : A CHRISTIANITY PERSPECTIVE

By: Songthu Raymond Chongloi When Sadar Hills districthood issue begins to catch the headlines of … … some regional dailies I felt the need of understanding some of my Naga… Read more »

By: Songthu Raymond Chongloi

When Sadar Hills districthood issue begins to catch the headlines of … … some regional dailies I felt the need of understanding some of my Naga colleagues mindsets on the deadlock. The reason : several Naga organisation came in chorus warning another communal flare up in the state; like the one witnessed some two decades ago. So, without disclosing my identity in detail I approach a Naga student leader if I am new to the issue. Before going deeper on the topic we briefly chatted. In the meantime I came to know that he was an active member of the church during his stay in Imphal, and did not hide being consulted often on every subject of the Nagas there in Manipur.

Taking advantage of his statement I went deeper referring to the involvement of intelligent agencies in 1993 clash; the license issuance of about 600 single barrel guns by the then Deputy Commissioner of Ukhrul just before the outbreak of the clash,the accusation made against Chief Minister, Shri Rishang Keishing, as on the governor’s report that time,and some more. Interestingly as expected, he strongly disapproved .Instead he blamed the media for maligning the image of the Nagas. Then without a pause, he jumped over to the Sadar Hills issue which I too find more worthy to be discussed than the bygone years. As in the case of the war,he put a heavy load on the media. Also criticize the state government attitude against the Nagas. He continued,”there are nine districts in Manipur of which five are hill districts ,and the remaining four districs are dominated by the Meiteis. Out of the five hill districts one belongs to the Kukis and the other four belongs to the Nagas. This is not a propaganda but If you need datas its with me,”he assures.

While he was totally lost on the topic I calmly opened my bag;took out a map of Manipur indicating the proposed map of Greater Nagaland, and showed to him with a wink on my eyes. With that he exclaimed:’ that’s our long cherished dream…., “he took the map and have a surprise look on it.

Query:If Sadar Hills has been included in the proposed map of Greater Nagaland,it could still be a Naga district even if it is declared a full fledged district?Am I right?
Reply:Not so. Sadar Hills , off course ,is dominated by the Kukis . I don’t think people favour merging it with the proposed Nagaland. The Kukis have been in the forefront opposing the Nagas movement now and then. For your knowledge Sadar Hills has been much apart of our ancestral land. This is a fact.

Query: Respecting other sentiment is one that Nagas believe. So if the Nagas continue this hell-bend attitude over the district hood status,would not it amount to disrespecting ones right ,especially the Kukis?
Reply: No. Respecting others right in no way mean giving away our land to somebody. We have the right to protect our land. We must not be divide by inimical forces.

Query: Then how far would you agree and prove that Sadar Hills is the land of the Nagas? Can you point me some fact or more importantly of its history on defence against foreign invaders-the British?

With this question,it seems,he was blown out of the cold. To my surprise he smiles at his cellphone that never rings; and inquired me to repeat the question complaining the language jargon. In doing so he pleaded,”such questions need an elaborate understanding on history. He keep on with little stumbling ,”those questions are to be asked to our leaders. Its out of my knowledge”. That was how we end the discussion,which perhaps,begins lively but ended without much to appreciate on the claims and stance of the Nagas. Well. As we go through the above interaction,I believe,one may be confused over a Naga leader attitude toward their Christian brethren. Surprisingly,if a leader who claims to be so God-fearing have a warlike attitude to someone then one can easily guess the perception the general Naga population ought to posses? The reason I penned this. Now from the Christianity perspective. Some years back we have celebrated the joy of attaining a centenary-100th year of the arrival of Christianity in Manipur. It was expected that Christianity attains much maturity than before. However much against our expectation things seems to be murkier with the advancing years. The relationship one community maintains over the other is not going to wane easily. This is evident from the present crisis we face and the press statements issued against the other targeting the lesser privileged. To be little persuasive over the present demand I would like to set some record straight in the interest of all. The Manipur (Hill Areas) Autonomous District Council Act, 1971 has a provision for creation of six autonomous districts of which Sadar Hills autonomous council was one among them. Therefore, the question of bifurcating Senapati of carving parts of the district to form Sadar Hills never arise. The provision was made for administrative convenience; the same case that Senapati have. Under such circumstances Nagas communal tone over the issue is something hard to digest. Reason in defense may vary,but one may be pointed out. The sanctioned district has a mix population. No particular community could claim suzerainty over it. Off course the Kuki groups maintains the majority status with Nepali,Naga and Meitei community filling the leftover composition. But there is nothing to be so much to be alarmed off. Implanting fear to the general public is never to be encouraged. One assumption may be, Naga leader fear of similar repercussions of what they did to the minority Kukis in the areas where they hold majority two decades back! If so,the Kukis stance on Sadar hills issue till date is clear-there is no communal tone from Kuki civil organisation like Kuki Inpi , KSO etc, except KPF statement rebuking Naga civil society stance on the issue. Such is a clear indication that there is no hidden political agenda from the side of Kukis. Instead it is the general populace who wholly back the move. To keep in mind, the trend of one community dominating a district is a normal trend we have in the present day administration,yet we don’t find any ill consequences a result of such demarcation. Instead a mixed population is believe to have provided a better social environment due to intermingling of different colours. This also have proved to broadens one’s mindset to a large extend. 0

Never mind,our human mindsets are such that we don’t feel being bad as long as things are in our favour; but act harshly on things which deviates slightly against our wish. This type of perception full of egos –me,myself-is never to be found in the principle of the Christian faith. Rather it tells us to love our neighbor as we love thyself. Beloved Naga Christians must sense this. While we tries to grab somebody’s right to make up our dreamland-Nagalim, we don’t want an inch of Nagas land to be included in an already sanctioned district which neither means separation or secession. These are the ills that infest Naga nation. It is a society where give and take,compromise and accommodation have no meaning.

We professed to live a life on the principle of a Christian faith which encompasses brotherhood of all mankind. Often,the verbatim like forgiveness,confession,do good,accommodation,peace loving and mutual understanding became the refrain in the church which is never put into practice. While our lip service are sweet with the word of God,our hearts are filled with nothing but greed;our motives are self drive,our mindsets are preoccupied with war, bloodshed and hatred.
So ,until we develop a sense of sympathy for others we have no reason to tell the world –we are proud to be a children of the Lord. Rising up his name without upholding the principles of the Christian faith will only tantamount to insult on the Savior. The sweet motto like ‘Nagalim for Christ” has been used far and wide these days ,however, the banner has been used only to invite hatred upon the Naga society,and more importantly the church image. Let peace prevail !!

The above article is sent to Kanglaonline.com by Songthu Raymond Chongloi and can be reached at raymond.chongloi[at]gmail.com

Sharmila, Media and Manipuris

By: Sanjib Meitei I am a staunch supporter of Irom Sharmila’s struggle against the draconian law Arm Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA). I too, always feel that mainland Indian media… Read more »

By: Sanjib Meitei

I am a staunch supporter of Irom Sharmila’s struggle against the draconian law Arm Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA). I too, always feel that mainland Indian media houses are biased while handling two Gandhians of modern India – one from a neglected and failed state called Manipur trying to make people and leaders in mainland India hear that people living here are yet to get democratic rights even though India is celebrating its 64th years of independence while the other Gandhian belongs to one of the most prosperous states of India taking up a cause called corruption which most of the people enjoy indulging it personally at various levels but problematic when others indulge it at his cost. The only similarity between the two Gandhian activists is that both of them resorted to indefinite hunger strike to press their demands. Unfortunately, the similarity ends here. Anna Hazare took the nation by storm. Central government had to bow down in front of Mr. Hazare. The whole India got to know the modern era Gandhi, Mr. Anna Hazare, whose struggle lasted for a few months and almost succeeded getting his goals. Not bad and he rightly deserves to get respect for bringing awareness among the ignorant people of the country (I hope so and I would love to live in a corruption free society). One thing is clear. The mighty Indian government is not intimidated by any person but it’s afraid of the mass who can vote
them out of power. The success of his war against corruption would not have been easy had the media houses not covered each of his moves. Credit should go to media also for making the issue reaches to common men and gain their support. For media, it was a win -win situation. They got their expected TRP besides supporting a patriotic cause.

The other Gandhian is more humble and her cause is relevant to only a fraction of Indian population although it is not less important than that of Mr. Hazare by any standard. Most of the people living in AFSPA free states never heard about the Act itself let alone support the cause. Before Mr. Hazare become famous, I came across only a very few editorials of Hindi/English dailies supporting her cause while many retired army officials and other prominent people opposed it openly saying the reasons which sound so theatrics and painful to us. Their reason for supporting AFSPA sounds more hypocrite now a days after hearing the reason for their reluctance to use the same yardstick to treat the people of Naxalite affected areas of India where the condition seem at least similar if not more worse than APSPA implemented states.

For the last 11 years, Irom Sharmila has been fighting a lone battle against the law enforcers of the biggest democratic country in the world begging our basic democratic rights other than right to vote. No media house is interested in highlighting the plight of the people of India living without democratic rights. Their reluctance may be partly due to lack of response from their audience regarding the issue and simple arithmetic is that in this big bad competitive world, money matters. For them, money is directly linked to the number of audience for each news article. I think I could understand (at least I tried to convince myself that) the reluctance of media houses to put Ms. Sharmila on headlines is nothing discriminatory but simply business related issue. During Mr. Hazare’s fast, she has been compared with Anna Hazare and as a result many people got to know her even though most of them are not interested in knowing her cause for the indefinite fast. Ignorant people even hurled insults to hercause. Some prominent columnists and so called social commentators like Mr. Santosh Desai questioned the legitimacy of her demand without trying to understand the illegitimacy of the Act. Well, it’s unfortunate to say the least. Many people seem to hate people getting basic democratic rights even though they are fully enjoying it.

As for people like Mr. Dersai, had you ever been slapped across your face just because your name sound like a name of an outlawed person by a jawan frisking you in a cold late evening when returning home after a long day at work or had one of your sisters or your wife had to go to labor in the middle of the street just because there was a combing operation going on to identify some suspected terrorists by security personals, then I think, your comments would have been
different

. It’s very hard to explain the importance of basic democratic rights which you never had to struggle for in your life. Let me give you an example. I came across the love and hate relationship between Mahatama Gandhi and then British Prime Minister Mr. Winston Churchill who is considered as one of the greatest statesman and war time leader in UK. Despite the latter’s statesmanship and leadership quality for leading UK during hard times, he was against Indian independence movement.
There were reports that he favored letting Mahatama Gandhi die as a result o f indefinite hunger strike so that British rule could be continued in India. It’s very easy to Churchill than being Gandhi. I think same is happening in India now. It is very easy to deny basic democratic rights but very difficult to acknowledge and support it for the sake of others. While trying very hard to convince myself the logical reason behind Sharmila’s cause not being on headlines with its deserved importance, there came the news regarding Ms. Sharmila’s confession for her love of a person who she believes that he is the one. My wife called me up and informed me that she just came across the news of Sharmila’s romantic tryst. I told her that it’s good thing to happen to our beloved Gandhian. After all, love makes life beautiful and in fact the world is beautiful when you are in love. I pray that the two beautiful people in this world live happily for the rest of their life. When I read the news, I was saddened by the fact that Sharmila is not happy with the way her close associates treated the man whom she loves. I feel that if AFSPA is draconian, then objecting to Sharmila’s choice of partner is much more draconian. As usual, the chaos begins the next day in Manipur. Some
people are demanding the editor of newspaper in question to come down to Manipur and apologies to the people of Manipur. Isn’t it too much?

There are two big problems

(i) the way telegraph India sensationalized the news which sounded rather insulting to the people who are suffering under AFSPA than any show of sympathy on Sharmila’s struggle per se and

(ii) the way on how people reacted to the situation by directly resorting to violence. Violent reaction on this issue demeans Sharmila’s genuine sacrifice and struggle.

It simply accelerates the deviation of the focus from the genuine issue and making it a romantic comedy. I think, our political leaders (if they genuinely felt for the plight of the people of Manipur), social activists and organizations can express their displeasure regarding the news which sounded like making a joke of Sharmila’s personal life instead of appreciating her struggle. If the news is baseless, I would appeal to social groups to sue the media house to teach them a lesson. Even if it is genuine news, we can still make our displeasure known to the media house on the way how they handled it. It should be made clear that even if the mainland media houses could not appreciate or help the genuine cause of our beloved lady’s sacrifice, they should not try to malign it by sensationalizing it by giving a negative light. The editors and reported should remember the old saying that “If you cannot help someone, then at least don’t do bad for the person”. You people have a big role to play in maintaining cultural harmony and national integrity. Instead of making the people of Manipur out of place by sensationalizing the news in a different light other than the people of Manipur expect, you can help the genuine cause of our Iron lady.

To me, I respect Mahatama Gandhi much more than Mr. Winston Churchill for the formers ideology of non violence and equality of rights even though the latter won a big war against non democratic groups. In the land of Gandhi, let us not follow Churchill’s footsteps.

The above article was sent to Kanglaonline.com by Sanjib Meitei, sanjibmeiteicha[at]rediffmail.com

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/sharmila-media-and-manipuris/

Conflict Resolution – a definition of Mary Follett

By: – G.S.Oinam “Many people tell me what I ought to do and just how I ought to do it, but few have made me want to do something….” –… Read more »

By: – G.S.Oinam
“Many people tell me what I ought to do and just how I ought to do it, but few have made me want to do something….” – Mary Parker Follett, the New State (p. 230)

Mary Parker Follett’s words, written some seven decades ago, seize our attention today as though she was speaking with us personally about our most contemporary concerns. Sometimes they dangle tantalizingly ahead, pointing toward a yet-to-be experienced tomorrow. “Who was Follett?” first-time readers ask, “and why have I not heard of her earlier?” The natural inclination is to find a professional tag to hang upon her. “Was she a management consultant? A political scientist? A historian? A philosopher?” and so forth. She was each of these, and more. She avoided all such labels, however, and out of respect for the universal nature of her thinking, we must as well. Yet, credit to this woman generously was not given by male dominated world.

In 1925, Mary Parker Follett, an American intellectual, social worker, management consultant and pioneer of organizational theory/behaviour, presented a paper entitled “Constructive Conflict”— that conflict, as a natural and inevitable part of life, does not necessarily have to lead to deleterious outcomes. Rather, if approached with the right analytical and imaginative tools a conflict can present an opportunity for positive or constructive development (hence the title of paper). Ms Follett’s definition of conflict as difference is a bit too parsimonious – difference, in itself, does not make a conflict – but this is unimportant as it doesn’t detract from her main insights. According to Ms Follett, there are three ways to respond to conflict— Dominance, Compromise and Integration. Dominance means victory of one side over the other. This works in the short term, but is unproductive in the long run (to make her point Follett presciently alludes to the results of “The War” (WWI). Compromise means each party having to give up something for the sake of a meaningful reduction of friction. Far form ideal, compromise often leaves parties unsatisfied – having given up something of value. Finally, integration, the option championed by Follett, means creatively incorporating the parties’ fundamental desires/interests into the solution.

Integration in this context means the creation of a novel solution that penalizes no one and that becomes the only sure base for progress toward an ideal democracy. If integration is to be achieved, various forms of coordination must be introduced as fundamental principles of organization: (1) direct contact between the responsible people who have to carry out policies, rather than hierarchical control; (2) early contact between these responsible people, so that policy may be created by them, rather than later meetings that can only try to resolve differences between policies already evolved by isolated groups; (3) the reciprocal relating of all factors in a situation, that is, equal attention to all the variables in the social system.

Coordination in these various forms is a continuing process, since in any complex social environment there exist many points of creativity, and established policies can never be executed as designed but must constantly be reformed in consonance with basic goals.

Follett did not appreciate the role of institutional structures, bureaucracy, or force. She firmly rejected Durkheim’s proposition that social facts may be conceived of as “things,” and her approach to the concept of the state was unsophisticated. She never mentioned the existence of legitimate power or the prevalence of legitimized and idealized peace that has its source in bloody conquest.

Ms Follett writes…….One advantage of integration over compromise I have not yet mentioned. If we get only compromise, the conflict will come up again and again in some other form, for in compromise we give up part of our desire, and because we shall not be content to rest there, sometime we shall try to get the whole of our desire. Watch industrial controversy, watch international controversy, and see how often this occurs. Only integration really stabilizes. But the stabilization I do not mean anything stationary. Nothing ever stays put. I mean only that that particular conflict is settled and the next occurs on a higher level.

The psychiatrist tells his patient that he cannot help him unless he is honest in wanting his conflict to end. The “uncovering” who every book on psychology has rubbed into us from some years now as a process of the utmost importance for solving the conflicts, which the individual has within himself, is equally important for the relations between groups, classes, races, and nations. In business, the employer, in dealing either with his associates or his employees, has to get underneath all the camouflage, has to find the real demand as against the demand put forward, distinguish declared motive from real motive, alleged cause from real cause, and to remember that sometimes the underlying motive is deliberately concealed and that sometimes it exists unconsciously. The first rule, then, for obtaining integration is to put your cards on the table, face the real issue, uncover the conflict, bring the whole thing into the open….

This type of “uncovering”, in the context of conflict and productive negotiations, explained by Ms Follett often leads to a “revaluation” of one’s desires and interests. Another way of saying this is that uncovering leads people to move from position to interest-based thinking and negotiation. So if the first step is to illuminate the conflicted parties’ desires, the second and related step for Follett is to break up the demands of each party into its constituent parts. Breaking up wholes means paying special attention to the language used in the conflict. What is behind the words – is a desire to go to Europe, for example, really a desire to go to Paris or Barcelona or is it a reflection of a deep need to experience life anew and meet different people? If psychology, she writes: there another way to fulfill this need? Once the whole is broken up it needs to be reconstructed anew – with a focus on the essential. One is reminded her of social psychologist Morton Deutsch’s Crude Law of Social Relations: “The characteristic processes and effects elicited by a given type of social relationship also tend to elicit that type of social relationship.”

Returning to the obstacles in the way of win-win outcomes, Follett explains that integrative bargaining entails intelligence (quick to learning) and imagination (something that is short supply in general, even more so during times of conflict). Second, our way of life has habituated us to take pleasure in domination. Finding an integrative solution pales in comparison to the excitement generated by fighting with and (trying to) dominate another. (This would have been an interesting place for Follett to give her critique a feminist flavor, but alas she did not). A third obstacle is that integrative analysis is usually confined to the world of theory. Fourth, Follett points to the way in which we communicate with one another. In conflict there is a strong tendency to attribute blame to the other. And finally, Follett thinks this is perhaps the greatest obstacle to integration, misguided education and lack of training.

She argued that democracy would work better if individuals organized themselves into neighborhood groups. She believed that community centers had an important place in democracy, as the place where people would meet, socialize, and discuss important topics of concern to them. As people from different cultural or social backgrounds met face-to-face, they would get to know each other. Follett believed that diversity was the key ingredient of successful community and democracy.

The individual is created by the social process and is daily nourished by that process. There is no such thing as a self-made man. What we possess as individuals is what is stored up from society, is the subsoil of social life…. Individuality is the capacity for union. The measure of individuality is the depth and breadth of true relation. I am an individual not as far as I am apart from, but as far as I am a part of other men. ( Follett 1918 p.62).

Follett thus encouraged people to participate in group and community activities and be active as citizens. She believed that through community activities people learn about democracy. In The New State she wrote, “No one can give us democracy, we must learn democracy.”

Furthermore, the training for the new democracy must be from the cradle – through nursery, school and play, and on and on through every activity of our life. Citizenship is not to be learned in good government classes or current events courses or lessons in civics. It is to be acquired only through those modes of living and acting which shall teach us how to grow the social consciousness. This should be the object of all day school education, of all night school education, of all our supervised recreation, of all our family life, of our club life, of our civic life. (Follett 1918 p.363) In the ideal democracy, therefore, integration of the individual personality and the society is so complete that no conflict, either psychological or social, is conceivable. “Democracy does not register various opinions; it is an attempt to create unity” (1918, p. 209).

The training for democracy can never cease while we exercise democracy. We older ones need it exactly as much as the younger ones. That education is a continuous process is a truism. It does not end with graduation day; it does not end when ‘life’ begins. Life and education must never be separated. We must have more life in our universities, more education in our life… We need education all the time and we all need education. (1918: 369)

Neighborhood education was, thus, one of the key areas for social intervention, and the group a central vehicle. Her own experience in Roxbury and elsewhere had taught her that it was possible for workers to become involved in local groups and networks and to enhance their capacity for action and for improving the quality of life of their members. Group process could be learned and developed by practice. As Konopka (1958; 29) again notes, she ‘realized the dual aspect of the group, that it was a union of individuals but it also presented an individual in a larger union’. She argued that progressives and reformers had been wrong in not using the group process.

Group organization, she argued, not only helps society in general, but also helps individuals to improve their lives. Groups provide enhanced power in society to voice individual opinion and improve the quality of life of group members.

She believed that her insights from her work on community organizing could be applied to management of organizations. She suggested that through direct interaction with each other to achieve their common goals, the members of an organization could fulfill themselves through the process of the organization’s development. Follett developed the circular theory of power. She recognized the holistic nature of community and advanced the idea of “reciprocal relationships” in understanding the dynamic aspects of the individual in relationship to others.

In her Creative Experience (1924) she wrote “Power begins with the organization of reflex arcs. Then these are organized into a system – more power. Then the organization of these systems comprises the organism—more power. On the level of personality one gains more and more control over me as one unites various tendencies. In social relations power is a centripetal self-developing. Power is the legitimate, the inevitable, outcome of the life-process. We can always test the validity of power by asking whether it is integral to the process of outside the process.”

Ms Follett distinguished between “power-over” and “power-with” (coercive vs. co-active power). She suggested that organizations function on the principle of “power-with” rather than “power-over.” For her, “power-with is what democracy should mean in politics or industry” (Follett 1924 p.187). She advocated the principle of integration and “power sharing.” Her ideas on negotiation, conflict resolution, power, and employee participation were influential in the development of organizational studies.

In this way Mary Parker Follett was able to advocate the fostering of a ‘self-governing principle’ that would facilitate ‘the growth of individuals and of the groups to which they belonged’. By directly interacting with one another to achieve their common goals, the members of a group ‘fulfilled themselves through the process of the group’s development’.

What is the central problem of social relations? It is the question of power… But our task is not to learn where to place power; it is how to develop power. We frequently hear nowadays of ‘transferring power as the panacea for all our ills. Genuine power can only be grown; it will slip from every arbitrary hand that grasps it; for genuine power is not coercive control, but coactive control. Coercive power is the curse of the universe; coactive power, the enrichment and advancement of every human soul. (Follett, 1924: xii-xiii).

Boje and Rosile (2001) argue that she was ‘the first advocate of situation-search models of leadership and cooperation’. This was not to some surface activity: ‘the willingness to search for the real values involved on both sides and the ability to bring about an interpenetration of these values’ (Follett 1941: 181).

Her conception of the integrative dynamic of the social process led her to rethink the nature of power and leadership. She emphasized the critical importance of exercising power-with rather than power-over. Leaders needed to be collaborative participants in the creative exchange of ideas among organizational or community members. The rigidity of traditional hierarchical lines of authority needed to be erased to allow full scope to the creative interaction that led to progress.

Citizen-based community groups needed to be the foundation of a true democracy, organizing in regional and national groups to provide direction to government. She believed that the current political system used the idea of consent of the people as a means to limit the citizen role to voting and exclude the public from real influence in government decisions. She rejected schemes which postulate a dualism between the individual and society, as well as most other forms of causal interaction between these two entities, in favour of the notion of integration

She writes—The skillful leader…does not rely on personal force; he controls his group not by dominating but by expressing it. He stimulates what is best in us; he unifies and concentrates what we feel only gropingly and shatteringly, but he never gets away from the current of which we and he are both an integral part. He is a leader who gives form to the inchoate energy in every man. The person who influences me most is not he who does great deeds but he who makes me feel I can do great deeds…Who ever has struck fire out of me, aroused me to action which I should not otherwise have taken, he has been my leader.

That was Marry Follett way—engaging all she met in an exploration of ideas, always grounded in experience, but never tied to the old, always instead seeking to create the new. She believed, “Experience may be hard, but we claim its gifts because they are real, even though our feet bleed on its stones” (Follett, 1924, p. 302).

On presaging President Kennedy’s famous inaugural address, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” Follett concluded that “The question which the state must always be trying to answer is how it can do more for its members at the same time that it is stimulating them to do more for themselves.” Midstream she corrects herself, adding, “No, more than this, its doing more for them must take the form of their doing more for themselves” (p. 237).

The key concepts that underpin Follett’s philosophy are:
· interrelatedness – ‘coactive’ as opposed to coercive
· power with an emphasis on ‘power-with’ rather than ‘power-over’ people; where the ‘situation’ will dictate the action that needs to be taken
· a community-based approach with the idea that natural leaders are born within the group
· the leader guides and in turn is guided by the group
· teaching is carried out by leading
· a skillful leader influences by stimulating others
· the idea of fluid leadership where leaders and followers are in a relationship and the role of leader flows to where it is needed – informal leadership is in the workplace.

Somebody strongly recommended Ms Follett’s philosophy and I believe her idea of conflict resolution by integration- may take time in Manipur but one of the finest and ever lasting one. Presently, in the state, dominating type of protest is followed by compromise (negotiation) to settle the conflict.

And, since conflict is inevitable part of our life, society and country- political leaders we called protectors of people in democracy, in case of India- must experience and resolve conflicts in time. A good politician is the person who is able to resolve conflicts by integrative relationship. Civil societies become active when political parties, elected representatives and state assembly does not work properly. Government messages dysfunctional and it has become a conflict message (speak one thing, do one thing and think another thing).

Hunger Strike In India That Needs World`s Attention

by Nehginpao Kipgen It is uncommon here in the United States to see a peaceful demonstration, in the form of hunger strike that is spearheaded by women activists for a… Read more »

by Nehginpao Kipgen
It is uncommon here in the United States to see a peaceful demonstration, in the form of hunger strike that is spearheaded by women activists for a genuine cause they firmly believe in.

The news may sound somewhat unconvincing, but it is happening in the state of Manipur in Northeast India. It may be difficult to find someone who does not know India, even if he or she is unsure of its precise geographical location in the world map. India boasts for its diversity and being the world’s largest democracy, with a population of over 1.21 billion people.

India is a nation originally formed by princely states and territories. It is also a country which fought several decades to gain independence from the British in 1947. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi) was a pioneering leader who stood up against the British forces with an effective political weapon called ahimsa (meaning non-violence).

It was Gandhi’s use of non-violent strategy that has left indelible imprints in the hearts and minds of many Indians. If so, why has similar non-violent agitation seemingly become unimportant, if not irrelevant, in the state of Manipur?

In a genuine demand for the upgradation of Sadar Hills Autonomous District Council into a full-fledged district, more than 40 women belonging to the Kuki community, began their fast unto death on August 16. To further protest the government’s inaction, the people of Sadar Hills observed India’s Independence Day (August 15) in mourning by wearing black dresses.

On August 28, three hunger strikers were arrested by the state police on charges of attempting to commit suicide, after they refused medical aid. Earlier on August 20, seven hunger strikers were hospitalized because of deteriorating health condition.

As part of their agitation, elected representatives of Sadar Hills have met both the state and central governments. While the central government has advised the state government to look into the agitators’ demand, the state government fails to implement it thus far.

The agitation was initially planned for a seven-day strike starting July 31, but it escalated to an indefinite strike with the death of three women on August 2. They were mowed down by a tanker, whose driver lost control.

Unfortunately, this extreme form of peaceful agitation (i.e. hunger strike) has thus far failed to capture headlines in the Indian mainstream media, not to mention the international media. It has also failed to draw the attention of leading international human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Given the seriousness of the situation, the dearth of publicity is surprising. Whether the Indian general public approves or disapproves of the demand is up to the readers concerned. However, leading newspapers and magazines should cover agitations such as this which involve life and death of ordinary citizens.

Sadar Hills’ demand is not something new. It has been mandated by the Indian Parliament Act in 1971. Of the six autonomous hill districts constituted in 1972, only Sadar Hills remains to be officially accorded a full-fledged district status.

Among others, the Indian president, prime minister, home minister and the opposition leader have been officially apprised of the renewed demand, which successive Manipur governments had given verbal assurances but failed to implement them. However, giving a mere advice to the state government without any concrete action is inadequate.

An indifference to such burning issue can generate criticisms and apprehensions from around the world. More importantly, Manmohan Singh-led Indian National Congress government should pay close attention to the non-violent agitation, which Gandhi and other Indian freedom fighters used against the British.

The government has responsibility to protect the lives of all its citizens, regardless of ethnicity, race, religion, and location.

Since the ongoing Sadar Hills agitation primarily falls under the state’s domain, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh should explore all possible means to end over a month-long political crisis at the earliest possible.

Meanwhile, the people of ethnically-sensitive Manipur should abstain from dragging the issue of ethnicity in this political game. Administrative convenience being the reason for Sadar Hills demand, it must not be viewed otherwise.

Moreover, the people of Manipur need to learn the beauty of diversity, while respecting the rights of every citizen. To achieve this goal, the gap (in terms of per capita income) between the hills and the valley people should be bridged. Unless there is equality of distribution, people will be hesitant to share equal responsibility.

Human rights organizations such as National Human Rights Commission of India and National Commission for Minorities should assess the condition of the hunger strikers and extend any possible help. Human rights campaigners around the world should speak up for these voiceless peaceful hunger strikers.

The international community must ensure that the lives of peaceful hunger strikers in India are not jeopardized for a legitimate political demand, and their fundamental rights should be protected. In this regard, pressure must be put on both the Indian and Manipur governments to take necessary steps.

The author is a political analyst and general secretary of the U.S.-based Kuki International Forum.

Oh My Leader Recast Your Strategies Be Leader Of Beloved Not Of The Outcastes

by RS Jassal You are loosing your ground day by day. You were a sound person, why from ‘national worker’ you wish to go internationally acclaimed terrorist. How many leaders… Read more »

by RS Jassal
You are loosing your ground day by day. You were a sound person, why from ‘national worker’ you wish to go internationally acclaimed terrorist. How many leaders in various groups like you have got how many targeted killings achieved? This is the 11th death of a ‘national worker’ both from hills & valley, who have lost their lives in the process of carrying IEDs (Composed) from place A to target area. A few of them lost themselves while assembling the components while undergoing training too. The Anthony like acting under confusion, inexperience and nervousness achieving the status of a ‘suicide bomber’ by circumstances. My son not only gave his life but taken other innocents , harmless, the best flowers of the parents and bosom’s natural pair of doves walking with locked hands in friendship . How shameful! It is nothing other than madness; reasons behind this may be any. I still own you up because I have dedicated my all stakes in you and you are not coming forward to spell out your purpose of act: Is this a military fight in disguise of cowardice to finish off opponents moral and social strength but where is that military wares you were aiming to destroy?

Of course I do agree, you are a great brave fighter to prove strength by firing from back and taking shelter in a crowded place to cover the heinous act confuse others to keep on speculating ‘action was against’ Autonomous Councilor Members or against Hindi bhashis or disobedients defying your extortion demands or for settlement of political scores. Yet getting dignified, dye fide proclaimed compassionate status when you say ‘I have not done it’. And you are still worshipped and gifted. Not only person like me obliged to be obedient to you even the Government also bends to what you desire. There is now enough confusion all-round in politics operational and field intelligence. Vision stands blurred solution to any problem seems impossible. So is the quality of modern leader(s) and bureaucrats on other side. Gone are the days when a leader controlled his passion (intense desire) – passion for possession, passion for recognitions, passion for wealth, passion for promotions, passion for pleasures and luxuries, passion for name and fame – the human fragilities which put ceiling on effective leadership. Why not! you got every right to put confused confusion in the front line after all legally placed political leadership also acts in confusional white wash – Nagalim v/s integrity of Manipur, ethnic compactness v/s political grouping of people for administration, riding on unequal laws/ statutes, LRA/MLRA incompetencies, forest policy without forests confusions and confusion all put in one called Manipur imbroglio. So your leadership stands like a pole star so what even if we have to sacrifice thousands of innocents’ lives more! Long time my leader. End of part III of III.

This is in response to pain and pangs on death of 5 innocents & eight injured in blast of 01 August, 2011. Surprisingly many write ups have appeared for the two students only and hardly any on others. Author pays his heart felt condolences to all the departed souls wishing peace to the organizers of blast so that the leader collapses under weight of sins against innocents.

Marriage Payment: An Aspect Of Marriage Institution Practiced Among The Chikimis In Manipur

By Priyadarshni M. Gangte. The Chin-Kuki-Mizo is a grouping of people comprising of several ethnic groups who are closely allied to one another. For the purpose of this paper, Chin-Kuki-Mizo… Read more »

By Priyadarshni M. Gangte.
The Chin-Kuki-Mizo is a grouping of people comprising of several ethnic groups who are closely allied to one another. For the purpose of this paper, Chin-Kuki-Mizo is clubbed together as the CHIKIM that literally means ‘all nationalities’. These ‘nationalities’ have a common culture, tradition, language, custom, mode of cultivation, form of government, etc. They inhabit entire Chin Hills of Myanmar and are known ‘Chin’ in that country. These same groups of people are known as ‘Kuki’ when they are in the Indian states of Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Assam, etc. and also Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. Similarly, in recent times, these people inhabiting erstwhile Lushai Hills District of Assam preferred to abandon the term and called themselves as ‘Mizo’ which is recognised by the Government of India and granted the state of Mizoram as belonging to the Mizo people. The present study will discuss the marriage payment, an aspect of marriage institution, among the following Chin-Kuki-Mizo people: Lushais, Thadou/Kuki, Lakher, Zomi/Chin and Old Kukis.

Marriage Payment

Marriage is a form of social arrangement by which a couple is legitimized in their physical relationship and their child is given a legitimate position in the society which is often determined by parenthood in the social sense1 . Marriage payment forms parts of the social institution of marriage. Making of payment of marriage by the bridegroom either in the form of kind or service to the bride’s kin is an essential part of establishment of legality2 . Marriage payment was held officially in South Africa as per native custom with payment of Mithun in general. Some people believe that ‘bride-price’ is a completed word of marriage payment, alleged to have been coined by British administrators during the colonial British period in India3 . In our study, marriage payment will be consistently used to mean marriage price or bride-price.

The Chikimis do not think of marriage necessarily, as a union, based on romantic love although beauty as well as character and health are always sought in choice of a wife. Secondly, in Chikimi society, a marriage involves making of payment by the bridegroom or his kin to the father or close relative of the would-be bride in case the father had expired. Such system of understanding of the nature of marriage alliance was also prevalent in a great number of societies in ancient and modern times in all parts of the world. Among few Chikimi tribes, practice of marriage payment is prevalent and is known as ‘bride-price’, which is paid in cash, kind and ‘mithun’. Our study of the marriage payment system among the Chikimi tribes has revealed that it is a widespread social practice in the northeast India and had significant sociological dimensions.

The Lushai

Marriage payment or bride-price or marriage price is the most important factor in a Chikimi marriage. No marriage can be performed unless part of marriage-payment is made in advance by the bridegroom to the bride’s family. It was paid in terms of mithuns when barter system was practice of the time. A mithun used to cost rupees forty as fixed by the British India administration in 18th Century when currency system was first introduced in this part of the North East. Some clans had fixed the prices for their maids in the past4 . It varied from four to ten mithuns depending upon the antecedents, blood and beauty of the bride. Marriage-payment for a chief’s daughter was as many as ten mithuns or more5 for the Dulien (Lushai) speaking Chikimis. Minor concessions could be given during the time of payment. In this connection, marriage payments were practically never paid up in full at once at the time of wedding for the reason that hardly anybody had enough money to pay the same at once6 . Generally there was the custom of marriage-payment only in instalments and the remaining to be paid after some time i.e. twenty years or more7 . The customary laws of Thadou, Gangte, Vaiphei, Paite, etc. in this regard are quite widely different from the ones described hereinabove8

Marriage-payment is a sacred institution prevalent in Chikimi society. It is however not to be understood as a sale-price9 . It is not a commercial transaction. Marriage payment was sometimes used as a weapon for a clever parent to reject a suitor10 If it is really felt that the usual payment of any part of the same was unduly delayed or was not intentionally paid, the aggrieved party could seek the chief’s permission to seize any of the property of the debtor against the claim11 .

The marriage payment consisted of two parts12 (i) the Manpui and the Mantang. The Manpui is the price that has to go direct to the girl’s father or in his absence, to her brother. If she has none of them, it has to be received by her nearest male relative. The general rate of Manpui is five mithuns or Rs.100/- if the girl had dowry or ‘Thuam’ in the Dulien language but in case she does not carry, the rate of it was four mithuns each Mithun being fixed at Rs. 80/- by the British administrators. The custom of increasing Rs. 20/- was prevalent if the girl was provided with Thuam.

It is pertinent to mention that the Lushai (Dulien speaking Mizos) custom is slightly different from others in dealing with matters relating to marriage payment. It happened in circumstances where the girl was adopted by a man since childhood then the price went to him. In cases where male relatives failed to receive the marriage payment, the mother of the bride did not marry again and had taken all the responsibilities for her daughter (bride) she would let her mother receive the payment or she could select anyone to receive her marriage payment. In case her mother remarried and had gone to live with her husband under whose care the girl was brought up could be entitled to receive the marriage payment13 . In case she is a ‘Falak’ or illegitimate child, her mother could receive the marriage payment14 .

During the course of our survey, we found that Parry was right about the ‘Mantang’ or the subsidiary price of the bride, which was normally distributed to different categories of persons15 .
(a) Sumhmahruai, Rs. 20/-, this price is payable to the bride’s father or brother.
(b) Sumfang, Rs. 8/- is payable to the bride’s father or brother.
(c) Pusum, Rs. 6/- goes to the bride’s ‘Pu’ (the maternal uncle of the bride).
(d) Palal, Rs. 5/- is to be received by any person, selected by the bride as adopted father. The Palal in reciprocal has to give the bride a fowl and Zubel (pot with rice beer) as Lawichal (wedding feast given by recipients of Mantang).
(e) Ni-ar, Rs. 2/- has to be received by the parental aunt.
(f) Naupuakpuan, Rs. 2/- is entitled by the bride’s elder sister in consideration of her having carried the bride about in her cloth when the child was a baby.

The above-mentioned subsidiary price or ‘Mantang’ are the integral parts of marriage payment. In addition to this, there are also two optional ‘mans’- they are Thianwan and Lawichal16 .
(i) Thianwan Rs. 2/- or Rs. 3/- is payable to a friend of the bride, it is from the Manpui. Thianman is refunded in case the bride left her husband sumchchuah (divorce of husband by wife) or Uire (adultery).
(ii) Lawichal Rs. 2/- is a payment (not compulsory) payable only when the bride and the bridegroom are from different villages. When the bride is escorted by a group of friends and a man, who leads them to the bridegroom’s residence. This man is known as ‘Lawichal’ in the language of Dulien speakers. He is sometimes rewarded Rs. 2/- which is also to be refunded in case the bride later leaves her husband ‘Sumchchuah’ or ‘Uire’.

Moreover, the following rates of marriage payment are realized:
(i) Tlai means head of one mithun’s price Rs. 20/-.
(ii) ‘Tlai Sial’ means half mithun Rs. 20/-.
(iii) ‘Sepui’ means a full grown mithun Rs. 40/-.
(iv) ‘Seding’ means a full grown mithun or Rs. 40/-.
(v) ‘Senufa’ means a mithun and calf or Rs. 60/-.
(vi) ‘Puikhat’ means Rs. 20/-.
(vii) ‘Puisawnsial’ means Rs. 20/-.

The Lakher

Marriage payment among the Lakhers was quite high and this worked as a deterrent to easy divorce and fortified the position of the wife. Like the Lushais, marriage payment in the Lakher-customs was shared by a long line of relatives even aunts of the bride have to receive part of it. Sometimes, sharing of the same was so complicated that litigations continued endlessly17 . The main price was called ‘angkia’. Higher clan Lakhers also adopted the custom of taking higher rate of ‘angkia’, which varied from 10 to 70 rupees. The different parts of the marriage payment, are the ‘angkia’, the ‘puma’, the ‘nongcheu’, the ‘nangcheu’, etc. All these prices have their own subsidiary prices18 .

The ‘angkia’(‘Angkia’ means house enter) as the main price is taken by the father of the bride. In some Lakher society, the ‘angkia’ is received by the eldest son (brother) for the eldest daughter. Likewise the youngest daughter’s angkia goes to the youngest brother.

The next payment is the ‘Puma’(‘Puma’ has the same significance of that other prices.) which is payable only to the bride ‘pupa’ who is her maternal uncle. The rate at which ‘puma’ is payable depends on the rate of the angkia and if it is 60 rupees the rate of the ‘pumapi’ or ‘puma’ payment is also 60 rupees and is generally claimed when the couple settles down as man and wife.

The third marriage payment is the ‘Nongchue’.( ‘Nongcheu’ is found to have exist only in the Lakher society.) which means ‘the mother’s price’. If the mother and father of the bride have been divorced, it is payable to the bride’s mother. If they are still married, it is payable to the bride’s mother’s sister.

The fourth marriage payment is the ‘Nangchue’‘Nangcheu’ is equivalent to Niman or Niar, and it is sometimes replaced by ‘Tini’), which means the aunt’s price and is payable to the bride’s eldest paternal aunt.

The Thadou / Kuki:

Among the Thadous, the marriage payment has an interesting legend19 . Chongthu was the younger brother of Nongmangpa, the Chief of the underworld. As per Thadou custom, in the presence of the elder brother called ‘Upa’, the younger brother called ‘Naopa’ cannot become a chief. So, Noimangpa, being the elder, was the chief, Chongthu also intended to become the Chief. Therefore, he went out in search of a suitable land where he could establish himself separately as a Chief. He found one. On his plan to become a chief, he wanted to go with his own closed friends whom he could trust. Thus, he arranged for the marriage of each of his selected men. In doing so he made the marriage payments of each bride to their parents. In those days, no valuable property or cash was available. All the valuable items that one could think of was a ‘Paigen’. This was a belt made of leather and decorated with a kind of beads, called ‘Longchang’, in seven lines. This was then considered to be a very rare and valuable item of property.
This could only be afforded by the chief alone. So, traditionally it became associated with the sole property, the right of which was vested only in the chief and was venerated very much being associated with a certain amount of superstition20 .

Chongthu being the younger brother of Noimangpa, the chief, had access to it and when he arranged for the brides of his friends with whom he planned to go to his newly found land, he paid the ‘Paigen’ to the parents of the girls as marriage payment. It so happened that though the commoners dared not refuse to accept the ‘Paigen’ when offered to them as marriage payment subsequently, they could neither dare keep it with them owing to their superstitions attached to it nor could they dare refuse the bride in marriage. 21 Thus, along with the bride, the parents returned the ‘Paigen’ to Chongthu saying that being a valuable property associated with the Chief exclusively, they dare not keep it or else, the wrath of the unseen supernatural power visit them and bring misfortune to them22 . This process went on and on until Chongthu was able to arrange 30 of his best and closest friends with the payment of ‘Paigen’ as the marriage payment.

Hereafter, marriage payment of every clan was paid in terms of seven mithuns based on the seven lines of ‘Longchung’ on the ‘Paigen’. This however needs further investigation and confirmation, the prevailing different versions on the matter among the Thadou tribes needs specific enquiries. Our research into ethnicity and folk lores reveal that since then marriage payment came to exist though in actual practice there are variations among the clans in terms of kind and number of mithuns. However, assuming that the following structure is the broad base for marriage payment as propounded by Crawford.

Bride-Price Structure of Thadous:
Clan Price
1. Doungel i) selsom (10 mithuns)
ii) dahpi ni (2 big copper gongs)
iii) dahbu ni (2 sets of three different small sizes of copper gongs)
iv) Khichang ni (2 ear beads)
v) Khichong ni (2 bead necklaces)

2. Sitlhou

3. Singson i) Selsomlanga (15 mithuns)

4. Kipgen i) selsom (10 mithuns)
ii) dahpi ni (2 big copper gongs)
iii) Khichong ni (2 bead necklaces)
iv) Khichang ni (2 ear beads )

5. Haokip

6. Chongloi i) Selsagee (7 mithuns)
ii) dahpi khat (1 big copper gong)
iii) dahbu khat (1 set of three different small sizes of copper gongs)
iv) Khichang khat (1 ear bead)
v) Khichong khat (1 bead necklace)

7. Hangshing

Though Crawford’s work is not comprehensive it serves an useful study on Thadou customary law for further exploration on the customary laws of the Thadous25 . Shaw,26 in his study on the Thadous, observed several deviations from what Crawford had specified in his work. He contended that the question of amount of marriage payment among the Thadous was not definite and commented that the chiefs and wealthy persons usually claimed and paid the equivalent of ten mithuns, Rs. 200/- in cash, 23 dahpi (large gongs), 2 dahpu (set of two gongs), 2 khichang (ear beads), 2 khichong (necklaces). He did not name any specific clan of the Thadous. He further opined that ordinary person often actually pay a couple of mithun, khichang and khichong. As in an instance, he said that a pig in some cases may be taken as one mithun and that as per his personal experience he had come across cases where Rs. 40 had stood for 4 mithuns, a jar of ‘ju’ for a khichang or khichong. Thus in actual practice the parent of the bride hardly ever received the marriage-payment in full but in the form of more or less fictitious substitutes. He was emphatic in this regard to the effect that the parents loved to name large amounts as the ‘man’ not with any idea of getting it, but to be able to boast that their daughter was married for so much. Often when enquired as to what precisely they had received, it was found that actually a much smaller amount had been accepted in full satisfaction by a system of fictitious values. This is very similar to the practices among the Lushais, Zomis, etc. Fictitious values have more often created false pretensions of wealth and richness, which became bones of contentions later and led to unhappy marriages.

It must also be mentioned that Hutton27 was convinced to have observed the fact that the first and last number of the marriage payment by mithun must necessarily be paid in mithun (selkeng-liding by this it means that marriage payment has to be by live-mithun). The first and the last marriage payment must in no case be substituted in any form of cash or kind.

Gangte28 another authority working on the marriage payment of the Thadous maintains that the marriage payment of the Singson Thadou is 30 mithuns without any other items added to it unlike the other Thadou clans. The higher rate of marriage payment among the Singsons has no origin according to him. It is said, the Singsons are the direct junior collaterals of the Sitlhous. So when their senior collateral (Sitlhous) increased the marriage payment the junior also deemed it proper to follow suit.29

During the course of our research we found that one common conspicuous missing fact is that of ‘Lutom Laisui’, a very important and compulsory item in the marriage payment. It signifies the importance of father and mother of the bride. ‘Lutom’ is given to the father of the bride in token expression of gratitude. Likewise, ‘Laisui’ is an exclusive item to be given to the mother of the bride for having given birth to her daughter from her naval. Here, it must be said that, while the father is shown respect for his paternal masculinity, the mother too is highly respected for giving birth to the child. In this regard, it is interesting to state that there cropped up differences between William Shaw and J.H. Hutton, who out of confusion literally dealt with the two terms out of ignorance of the language and meaning provided to the two items. Shaw30 attributed ‘Lutom’ as a gift given to the mother and ‘Laisui’ to the father. Hutton31 contended otherwise and explained that Shaw got it the wrong way round. In doing so, he explained saying that Laisui means a woman’s waist-band, while Lutom is a man’s loincloth. They were cloths for bride’s parent and further contended that it could be accounted for a money payment of Re. 1/- and Rs. 2/- respectively, that a woman can claim for property and that a Thadou woman can make in her own account.

Similarly, we found another feature that has not been dealt with by the several authorities in regard to Manpi which stands for principal marriage-payment that consists of one mithun on the tail of which one piece of big bead ‘khichang’ through the ear of which the tail of the mithun can be made to pass through as a decorative piece (Ibid). This bead is counted as equivalent to one mithun. Therefore, the Manpi or the principal mithun is counted as to bear the price of two mithuns. The principal mithun is expected to have given birth to as many calves as possible. It is believed that with such principal mithun included in the marriage payment similar number of many children are in return given birth by the bride. Therefore it is insisted that such principal mithun should necessarily reveal calf bearing32 .

We also observed that the broad based marriage payment as shown above is not totally followed by different clans. As for an instance, the Haokips of Chassad lineage known as the seniormost (piba) of the Haokip take ten mithuns inclusive of the principal mithun33 However, as for other junior lineages of the Haokip clan of the Thadou, the marriage payment is fixed at eight mithuns.

Another pertinent point we have observed i.e. the fact that though the marriage-payments of different clans are fixed it is customarily not paid in full throughout the life time of the bride. The practice of marriage payment is that provided the principal mithun accompanied by one or more subsidiary mithun can be paid, the remaining marriage payment be not necessarily in terms of mithuns. They can be substituted in kind. Symbolically the counting could represent mithun depending on the agreement between the groom’s and bride’s parties34 .

The Zomi/Chin

Among the Zomis the payment of marriage price also forms an integral part which has a high social value. In their custom, it is also called ‘Manpi’ (principal price). In every society of Zomi (chin) or Kuki or Chikimi tribes, unlike the Meitei’s, marriage ceremony process takes two days, one for sending off the bride by the parents, and another day for wedding, which is to be performed at the bridegroom’s place. A would-be bride cannot be send-off unless and until the question of ‘Manpi’ is settled as mentioned earlier. This is paid by the bridegroom side to the bride’s parents and has to be received by the father of the bride. In case he is dead, the price goes to the nearest male relative on his side, preferably, to the eldest or the youngest male member who is the heir-apparent.

In general, among the average Zomi, marriage payment ‘Manpi’ or principal price is fixed normally on the following four factors35
(i) the clan to which the bride belongs,
(ii) the amount of dowry the bride carries,
(iii) the beauty of her
(iv) mutual understanding.

If the bride belongs to chief’s clan or aristocratic family, the normal price of such bride is ten mithuns or equivalent value of ten mithuns in terms of rupees but only in name. Once the principal marriage payment i.e. one life-mithun is paid, the rest of the price can be substituted in kind like gong, even valuable household utensils made of copper, silver, alluminium, etc.36 When marriage is solemnized the parents of the bride offer a sumptuous feast in bidding fare-well to their daughter by sacrificing a pig or a cow or two pigs or two cows depending on their capacity and quantum of guests. This is a normal standard followed by an average Zomi. In symbolic significance of final settlement of marriage negotiation all the elders from both the sides gather with a mug of rice bear each in their hands would partake specific portions of the sacrificial meat together. This is known as ‘witness supper’ of the marriage. This ‘witness supper’ is preceded with formal handing over of the marriage payment. After deliberation they have to agree finally by accepting the marriage payment or totally refunding the same in good faith, which occur rarely.

The following is the generally accepted agreement by Zo or Zomi or ‘Chin’ as far as the marriage-payment is concerned.. It is practiced even today.
Sialsuam (ten mithuns) – Chief or Aristocratic clan.
Sialthum (three Mithuns) – Commoners.

Though virtually covered under the Zomi Customary Law as described hereinabove, marriage payment of the Paites is a bit different. The marriage-payment among them is normally one mithun and a calf, ‘Sial Nuta’. As per fixation of the British administration, one full grown Mithun costs Rs. 40/- and Rs. 20/- for a Mithun calf called ‘Tai’ or ‘Tlai’ which means half. Zomi clans like Zou takes only ‘Sialnga’ (five mithuns) only. The Zous stick to maintaining their customs since time immemorial. The obligation of the bridegroom towards the bride’s party is significant in their social and cultural life. Any relationship between two clans who are involved can also play a role in determining marriage. Thus we find that sometimes the marriage payment can only be symbolic which means the expenses of the wedding ceremony are counted as marriage payment. If a poor boy is not in a position to pay he may be allowed to pay later. A boy may also be exempted from paying the same if he causes elopement of the girl and also if he simply moves to the house of the girl and waits until the girl is ready to marry him37 .

In addition to ‘Manpi’, there are also the other subsidiary marriage-payments. They are as follows:
(i) Puchum Rs. 4/- goes to the maternal uncle of the bride.
(ii) Niman is equal to that of Pusum, which is to be accepted by the paternal aunt.
(iii) Thaman or Palal equal to that of Pusum is the labour or service price to be reciprocated for taking the charge of the parents of the bride and is usually given for the head of the family. It is prevalent among the Gangte, the Paite, the Simte, the Thadou, the Vaiphei also.
(iv) Thallouh ‘sum’ (price goes also to the nearest relative of the head of the family.
(v) Lamman or Thiansum is a small amount of money that goes to a bride’s friend as a token of love.
(vi) Nuapuan puak ‘man’ is the price for the cloth used for carrying the bride when she was a child by her mother or elder sister. It varies from Rs. 4/- to Rs. 20/- as the class of the clan she belongs to. These payments in cash or kind suggest complete cessation of ties of the girl who is getting married with her family as she has to start her own family with full devotion and understanding.

Thakur38 contended that a wealthy commoner can often pay a high marriage price and so marries a woman of high class, and if his descendants continue this practice they will achieve high status rank with many privileges of the aristocratic class, except, of course, the same in the line of possible succession to hereditary headmanship or chieftainship.

The Old Kukis

Among the Aimol, Anal, Chiru, Chothe, Kolhen, Kom and Purum, the marriage payment is also divided into several parts. To mention a few of them is that, among the Aimol, the bride’s eldest brother gets Rs. 6/- and each of the other one rupee less than his immediate senior. The paternal and maternal uncles receive Rs. 2/- each, the aunt and the elder sister also receive Rs. 1/- each as niman. Among the Anal and Purum the marriage payment must not be less than a pig and a piece of iron a cubit in length but the girl’s relatives try to get as much as they can. The bridegroom has also to feast the family of his bride three times on pork, fowls and rice washed down of course with plenty of Zu. But a Chiru girl has a marriage payment of only one gong. A Chothe girl’s marriage payment comprises of a spear, a dao and a fowl and the same is sealed by the consumption of much Zu. The marriage payment of a Kolhen girl is a gong and Rs. 7/- to her mother and Rs. 7/- each to the elder and younger brother and the maternal uncle.

The marriage payment of the Kom girl is very high, the father receiving one gong, four buffaloes, fifteen cloths, a hoe, and a spear, the aunt taking a black and white cloth. The Lamgang bridegroom has to pay his father-in-law three pigs or buffaloes or cows, one sting of conch-shell beads, one lead bracelet and one black or blue petticoat. A Tikhup father of the bride receives a gong, ten hoes, one dao and one spear and also Rs. 7/- by maternal grandfather. Apart from paying all items of marriage payments such as mithun, cow, pig, gong, bead, necklace, spears, dao, money and whatever ought to be paid by the bridegroom, three years service is to be served to the bride’s family. This practice is prevalent among the Aimol, Anal, Chiru and Purum. During this period of service he works with dedication as if he were a son of the house.39

Our survey has shown that the low rates mentioned as marriage-payments are certainly due to the sluggish economic wealth generation and poor economic condition of the tribes. Even today the plight of the many tribes is not better off. These monetary gifts became rational but the responsibilities that the marriage entailed for both the bride and the bridegroom was enormous. Responsibilities were indeed domineering over both the parties. The spirit of sharing responsibilities was reflected in the methods of gift exchange and their acceptance.

In conclusion, we want to say that in none of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribes (Chikimis) not a trace of customary law relating to women succession and inheritance was found to have been mentioned whatsoever40 . To bring a change in the mindset of masses, certainly, education is the only weapon by which social trend is made to a twist steadily or suddenly. In this regard we cannot solely depend on women only; here male participation is considerably essential. Despite the winds of change brought about by modernism, Christianity and innovations of all sorts of comforts and development in life by science and technology traditionalism still stands firm in the dynamics of system of marriage. Marriage payment is, of course, the pivotal part in a Chikimis marriage, however, with the advent of globalisation, so also with a democratic set up norms have somehow impacted these ethnic groups. The traditional systems never recognised the rights of women as primary decision-makers in matters of community issue take inter-ethnic conflict crises management, social sanctions, etc. Their customary laws prevalent among these ethnic groups, though portray an egalitarian socio-economic structure is discriminatory when it comes to women’s right in traditional governance and customary laws.

Learning Can Be Fun

By Bobo Khuraijam Other than petrol, cooking gas and diesel we desperately need something else. A book on ‘how to do it’ series or an educational video showing us… Read more »

By Bobo Khuraijam
Other than petrol, cooking gas and diesel we desperately need something else. A book on ‘how to do it’ series or an educational video showing us the same is urgently needed. Sure, we can also teach to the world of doing so many things with perfection. Those of us who resides along the highway can teach to the world about how a blockade is carried out; on how to pelt stones to the vehicles plying on the highway, how to aim only to the driver so that maximum damage is done to him, how to burn down a vehicle and push it down to the gorge without getting your fingers burned, how to collect tax like the man in uniform without wearing any uniform, how to choke the vital supplies of almost the whole populace by staying alive. We can also teach about enacting theatrics of scarcity. The teachers would be none other than our business fat cats who resides in Paona Bazar. They can teach you how a fake sense of helplessness is acted out to the customers. Maan laaktre eikhoisu upai leitre – we are helpless, the goods hasn’t arrived. But one thing is not. The water taps may run dry; the gas stations may smell dry but colorful liquors ‘made in everywhere’ are available in abundance. There is open sale in festive seasons. Bottle of any brands are sold on the pavements like vegetables. No Nisa Band or Meirapaibi worth their salt dare to enter this zone. This place is guarded by the statue of Rashtra Pita Mahatma Gandhi, and by those whose duty is to bag notes printed with the Mahatma from the fat cats. Those running this can teach what a BOLD business is and how it should be run. Reputed business schools with all kinds of names are invited to get admitted. Admission forms are available at MG Avenue. Last date of form submission is till the economic blockade last.

SOME MORE LESSONS: which no other human species on earth can teach. That is discipline and spirit of perseverance. We are the best in that field. The place of learning is time and space specific. Best season would be when there are economic blockade along the highways. We can teach how vehicles of all kinds are to be parked in a queue, in a row. One has to be informative of whether fuels will be issued by the stations or not. First come-first position, to be followed by the next vehicle and the next; nobody jumps the queue. No traffic control police on this earth could enforce that kind of discipline. The vehicles are parked one night ahead before the faithful morning. Each and every owner has to surrender their sense of security of the vehicles by leaving it behind. The poor vehicles happily spent the night together – A vehicular orgy of one night stand. When morning falls, the owners return to the spot where they had left their vehicles; waiting for one’s turn, without taking over the other needs perseverance of a strange kind. We do not know how many of them actually follow traffic rules on regular days. But for the miraculous act displayed at the gas station during the time of economic blockade is certainly a lesson to be imparted to the world.

WHY WE NEED: the ‘how to do it’ lessons? To demand for something rightful or to protest against something unacceptable to our collective self, as expert commentators put it, is an epitome of a modern democratic society. But there are pitfalls when we try to picture on the ‘how to’ part. We may claim ourselves to be a nation rich with the heritage of powerful revolts and uprisings. The last century saw two uprising where women took to forefront. There was also the revolt against the mighty English colonisers. We lost some and won some as well. They are engraved for posterity so that the present generation and the generations to come could revisit the events, if possible, reinterpret them and place them across the board for a better comprehension, and make a new meaning out of it. That would help us envisage a future free from the present maladies. the means of getting a rightful demand, or means of championing it, always ask for an imaginative exercise for the structure of the then social order have changed now, the nature of the one who is going to give the demand have changed. No wonder, the air is much more polluted now. In recent times, we have seen many groups demanding their rights. Protests are taken out in different forms when the demands are not met. On the other hand the ‘right giver’ would use coercive force in the name of maintaining peace and order. At times they would engage in systematic witch hunt of those who are at the helms. This kind of action destroys the moral fabric of the agitating side. Moreover the ‘right giver’ is over-equipped to man any group or individual who dare to assert their right. We have many a times seen the ‘right giver’ maintaining a solemn silence; as if they are the kings and kin of the mythological Hindu epic Ramayana, where everyone is happy and prosperous, and nobody have a complaint of any sort. However, having said that, at this critical juncture would it be an exaggeration to plead to our brothers who are presently taking out agitations on the highway to use their imagination a bit to champion their cause. If they think that strangulating someone is a rightful means of asserting a demand, then there is a serious crisis of error of judgment, thereby defecating on their own sense of wisdom, and trampling the rightful cause by their own insensible boots. There are lessons which we can always learn and unlearn together.

FOOTNOTE: a journalist who went to cover the Anna episode took an autorikshaw for the return journey. The driver charged unreasonably, he said he will drive with the meter when the Lokpal Bill is passed. Leipung Ningthou calls it, “Chinese na Olympic ta gold medal louraroi haiduna washakpa”.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/learning-can-be-fun/

Oh! My Leader Security Perspectives Area Chingmeirong

By RS Jassal As evidenced from Part I, Chingmeirong specially Sangkapham remains a security concern for the State. So let us get serious on security aspects Chingmeirong. It is known,… Read more »

By RS Jassal
As evidenced from Part I, Chingmeirong specially Sangkapham remains a security concern for the State. So let us get serious on security aspects Chingmeirong. It is known, this area is a mini Manipur not devoid of even a single community/tribe inhabiting it who can be found in all corners of Manipur. Prior to opening police outpost there was Municipal (Octoroi) Post, now this out post stands upgraded to Police Station declared by the current SPA Government. There are important schools and institutes like Don Bosco, DAV Public School, St. Anthony’s High School, Govt. Primary and Middle Class School, Kiddies Corner, D’Regina English High School & so on. Some important business oriented establishments like Maruti Eastern Motors Workshop , Show room, Arun Enterprise big godowns are there all having protuberance potentials. Coming up State Assembly Complex, State High Court Complex, Autonomous District Council , IIT Complex and IOC Oil Dumps all add to the future addition of traffic. Curiously enough, Manipur Govt. has thought of keeping width of road (NH) from Khongang- ani-Karak to Sangakpam the most narrow a stretch as compared to entire Koirengei to Thoubal road passing through Singjamei. By any counts it should have been wider or al least if not at par with general width of the road. ISBT (under construction) close by also dictates that width deserves to be kept more. This above has been depicted that flow of men, women, children and vehicular traffic will always remain so, with ever increase in volume and speed.

Under the present & the same CM, the then Chief Secretary Shri Jarnail Singh, the then speaker of LA Shri Haokip and two Engineers conducted detailed study of linking Police Station from NH to Capitol Project on one side and High Court on the other through our two houses (Myself, Edmund, Ranjit- and Dharam Chand Jain) with sufficiently wide road to link up with Central Agriculture University through Thangmeiband (North), Tarung Kabui area. It was immensely a good security plan. The areas to be cut were properly marked and owners no objection was also taken . Imagine incident of Aug One blast, how fast the Police could have covered all the northern exit routes in hot pursuit or blocking on red alert. But scheme is abandoned or otherwise is not known. Most of the locals interacted with me being a free lance writer & they asked, “ Col Sahib do you think VDF with sticks in hand are fit to be employed on policing duties instead of MR / IRB?” I definitely feel and incline to agree with them in ‘NO’. However VDF are a vast source of intelligence gathering pool available to the state than loitering in two(s) & three(s) with duties to simply gaze at the passers by. So Govt. may do some thinking on it. For public participation in police duty, some influential persons of (either gender) be identified with whom VDF can have easy access & our intelligence deficit can be made up on priority basis. With a compact State like ours it is not an impossible task. Even the killing of IGP Vanthuam Paite, IPS has not left any message for the State cops. Every time a thing of this nature happens, reports appear in media ‘investigation launched’ , ‘incident condemned’ & ‘no recurrence will be tolerated’ . That is end of it. Everyone was concerned & keen to know what happened to Wungnaosung’s ambush. At Ukhrul (Lamphu village) one couple was shot dead and crime admitted by NSCN(IM) but no report & action from the Govt. side made public so far.

Along with the developmental activities, security placing need equal consideration. IRB units need given their proper places in hill districts i.e., purpose for which they were raised. Security road as planned by the Govt. should have been aligned long back needs now doing on priority . VDF engagements be reviewed at the earliest under respective Districts. Same strength can be adjusted against DIB i.e., District Intelligence Bureau as Mizoram and Nagaland are doing. It needs noting terrorist activity is not helping any body or group; it’s a wild goose chase, dividing the homogeneity of ethnicity just self pleasing to the terrorist leaders in their own realms.

Peace In Manipur; Its Different Dimensions

By Priyadarshni M. Gangte, “Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding” – Albert Einstein. The word “Peace” means freedom from cessation of war, i.e…. Read more »

By Priyadarshni M. Gangte,
“Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding”
– Albert Einstein.
The word “Peace” means freedom from cessation of war, i.e. peace with honour, peace at any price (J.B. Sykes (ed) : The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English (7th Edition), Oxford University Press, 1987, p.753). Leiren (Dr. L. Leiren’s Article, “Peace Education in the 21st Century.” Imphal Free Press, 1st Sept., 2006) has elegantly contended that “peace” as a comprehensive enterprise that requires a transformation in our thinking sense of valued wills, resources and solidarity of all. Thus, it is a way of life in which one experiences inner tranquility, harmonious relationships and an interconnectedness with the world. Moreover, the term connotes in the real sense a state of Being (Net). It is about honouring and nurturing our spiritual side.

As our topic concentrates solely around “Peace”, it is pertinent to have some more definition of the same (Net):

“Peace is associated with clarity, and with an inner stillness that often gives rise to playfulness and inspired activity. So, while peace does come from non-resistance and acceptance of what is, it is not necessarily a state of passivity; rather it gives rise to choices that are free from automatic resistance …”

“… peace means being at peace with whatever is going on, so that any individual is aware of her or his inner reactions and can respond from a place of compassion and understanding …”

“… an inner state in which we are calmly impervious to whatever comes into our awareness of a distressing or inharmonious nature …”

“… peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all these things and still be calm in our heart. That is the real meaning of peace”, and,

* Presented in the 2-Day State Level Seminar on Kabow Valley and How To Bring Peace In Manipur, organised by Dr. Suresh; Centre for Foreign Studies And Placement in association with Cultural and Historical Research Trust, Manipur at the Central Library Hall, Imphal on 30-31st July, 2011.

“Peace means a quite stillness within oneself …, a completeness and a knowingness that everything is as it should be. A stillness so deep, that we know that each moment, each hour, each tomorrow is in this stillness waiting to blossom. Within this stillness there is no judgement, hatred, anger only a perfect stillness … a swelling of love …”

Before the advent of British rule in India, it was, of course, of varieties of small and big kingdoms, since the inception of sixteen Mahajanapadas with which led to the emergence of Maurya Empire in BC’s and still carrying her legacy upto the Mughal Empire. Such phenomenon have had not been witnessed or noticed by the North-eastern India, however in different ways of uniqueness these regions have their respective own histories. It will not wrong to say that independent India abruptly adopted democracy, without any having any taste and feel of the same. Further, after six decades and more being a democratic country masses in general and elite and other sections/groups in particular do not understand the actual meaning of democracy yet.

It is pathetic that the Indian State has not toed the democratic norms. Rather, on security point of view, the Indian state either simply copied the draconian laws of the colonial as referred by Baxi (Upendra Baxi : The Crises of the Indian Legal System, Delhi Law Review, 1982; p.43) and even made new extraordinary and harsher laws in maintaining law and order and tackling insurgency movements in the country. Some of these laws that have been quite abusively used – Punjab Security of State Act, 1953, The Assam Maintenance of Public Order (Autonomous Districts) Act, 1958, The Terrorist And Disruptive (Prevention) Act, 1987, The Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO), 2001, repealed etc, etc. It has been experienced oft and again that these extraordinary laws do not solve the problems of people’s dissent and insurgency movements. Instead the common people have been the victims of the atrocious laws. While the Terrorist and Disruptive (Prevention) Act, 1987 has lapsed after wide protests, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 is still being promulgated in various states, particularly, the North East India. Sharmila has been undergoing fast unto death for complete removal of the Act. Scores of concerned civil society organisations including Sharmila Kanba Lup and the intelligentsia among others have been launching movements against any further promulgation of such Act, the authority has ever been arrogant. In fact the Act does not tune with the social reality (B.B. Pandey, Right To Life On Death ? : For Bharat Both Cannot Be ‘Right’, Supreme Court Cases, Delhi Law Review, 1994, 4(SS(J); p.24). Thus, we experienced gross violation of human rights of the common peoples (Prakash Louis and R. Vashum : Extraordinary Laws In India, Indian Social Institute, New Delhi, 2004, p.9). Sanajaoba (Keynote address by Prof. N. Sanajaoba “Human Rights Standard- Setting, Constitutionalism And Repressive Laws in Armed Conflict Situation” in the Seminar-cum-Workshop on Human Rights And Repressive Laws at L. M. S. Law College, Im
phal, Manipur with the Initiative from the Centre for Humanitarian Law Studies and Research, Law Faculty, Guwahati University, organized by the college on 28-29 October, 2004) observed “subjugation has become the political culture”.

As far as to bring peace in Manipur is concerned, we need to trace back the past historical event, that is, of course, the causes and consequences of what we are facing to-day. Moreover, deprivation of justices, particularly political, economic, social, etc. were on the high. It is an empirical fact, that Manipuris have been protesting against even the British regime, can be clearly known from events, the First and Second Nupilals, Anglo-Manipuri War, Anglo-Kuki War, Irawat’s and Zeliangrong movements. Despite this situation, Merger of Manipur to the Indian Dominion and placed as part C state also had added fuel to the fire. As a setback there came up the secessionist movements. Manipur being very aloof from others was also a economic backward state (Ksh. Bimola; while delivering speech on the subject “Political Movements in Manipur” in the Refresher course Programme of History Department, Manipur University conducted by the Department of History with sponsorship of U.G.C. on 7/3/2005).

What intelligentsia and policy of our areas especially Manipur, popularly believe the future prospects of development and political stability of our regions lie in the Look East Policy, is, however, Roy (The Future of North-East –Need to Look East or Look All Around, an article by Prof. J.J.Roy Burman published in the Sangai Express, Nov. 19, 2010) has flatly refuted that it cannot be a panacea to the lingering problem of North-East, apart from the pangs of formation of an arbitrarily created nation – State with artificial borders, lies in the imposition of a system of parliamentary democracy based on the colonial legacy of constituency formation that hinges on the population logic.

Moreover, absence of a smooth transition and the non-existence of a just outcome at the end of the tunnel have made our youths absolutely restless and prone to addiction to drugs (Amar Yumnam’s view in the Imphal Free Press titled Youths, Drugs and Justice : Absence of Smooth Transition, Sunday April 24, 2011) concentrating only on bringing to book the addicted youths through the strong hand of the law enforcing agencies would amount to addressing the substantive grievances without ever bothering at the root cause of the issues involved (Ibid). And obvious response of the UG ‘taxation’ to the present strategy of the Manipur Police would for it to go further underground (Culture of corruption and extortion – Hindrance to Social Progress – Paper presented by Pradip Phanjoubam in the Seminar-cum-Workshop on Human Rights and Repressive Laws, Initiated by CHLS&R Law Faculty, Gauhati University, organised by the college on 28-29 October, 2004).

Likewise, women related institutions starting from prostitution, extortions, trafficking of women to other states, involving in transporting arms and ammunition are the social menace of today’s society. It is pertinent to look into the cause of such activities and try to solve by the authority instead blaming or otherwise such as “selfish claiming”.

Human Right awareness is of course the need of the hour, every individual should be given the education of Human Right. State forces as well as the state actors are the one in their attitude towards masses. Thus Human Right should be incorporated in the text, curriculum, syllabus starting right from the grass-root level so that any discrepancy would not take place, any more by forces of different “departments” of “groups” (groups).

Apart from the death, the most hated Human Rights abuses committed by the security forces are the so-called “Punishment attacks” when people suspected of “antisocial behaviour” (usually young male) are shot or beaten, usually in or on the hand, kneecaps or ankles, ‘Third-degree torture’ methods are subjected to.

In relation to a number of high profile deaths, the government has reached very slowly to calls for public inquiries to determine whether there is any collusion. Thus, State forces should have a Serious Crime Review Team looking at unsolved killing and occasionally of course, the “Police Ombudsman”, may (better than the CBI) can help if new evidence to such deaths comes to light.

The Manipur Human Right Commission is urged to do the utmost to persuade and the state actors, the political parties and the community and voluntary sectors to its proposal for a Bill of Rights for Manipuris. Meanwhile, the commission should endeavour to urge still improvements in a variety of more specific content such as mental care and human rights education (edited by R.Kumar, A. Puri, S. Naithani : What Makes A Peace Process Irreversible – A Delhi Policy Group Publication – Delhi, 3, 2005, p.63).

Peace will prevail in Manipur when, inter alia, females are also honoured as ‘Devis’ (Goddesses) as apostles of peace and any attempt to touch them with carnal, pernicious, lusty, adulterous desire to enjoy with her body and spoil her sanctity and image, including dowry deaths and torture, domestic violence, mental harassment and all sorts of discrimination specially the abduction and kidnapping of women – extreme violation of human rights considered as the greatest sin (The International Journal of Peace Studies – edited by Paitoon Patyaiying, Charernpradit, Muang, Pattani 94000, Thailand, Vol.2, No.2, Dec. 1999; p.22).

Manipur is passing through one of the most critical periods in its long history, and as is usual with all transitional phases, is full of stress and uncertainty. what she needs today as never before in its history is intellectual, moral and spiritual guidance if it is to survive its own destruction. “Ethnic brotherhood concept” should be applied to all fields of human activity – politics, economics, sociology, science, education, etc, and then peace and prosperity will ultimately prevail. Every individual is a unity in the make up of family, societies, communities and nations, having being inspired and implemented their ideal into practical lives – resorted to a profound effect on the society, community and nation. Thus peace cannot be brought at all without individual peace.

Basic needs are the basic things required to living human beings, in particular of course, animals, plants and trees and environmental consequences and biodiversity in general. Let us observe what have eminent scholars opined : According to Baxi (Upendra Baxi’s article “Social Change, Criminality And Social Control in India, in the Essays on Crime And Development, ed by Ugljesa Zvekic, United Nation Interregional Crime Justice Research Institute, Rome, 1990, p.44) “basic needs” are the human rights, if not deemed by the State, then brings “consequent anarchy”, so the first and foremost duty of the authority is to consider “human rights” (K. Ponnuswami (ed) : Right To Basic Necessities Of Life, Delhi Law Review, Vol.10-11, 1981-82, Delhi University Press, Delhi – 7, 1983; p.3). Ibohal (Human Rights And Repressive Laws presented in the Seminar-cum-Workshop at L. M. S. Law College, Imphal organised by the College with the initiation from the centre for Humanitarian Law Studies and Research, Law Faculty, Gauhati
University on 28-29th October, 2004) also contended
“If a government violates and suppresses basic human rights and fundamental freedom people have a legitimate right to rebellion against such a government”.

Pande (B.B. Pandey, Professor of Law, Delhi University, while delivering his speech on Basic Needs on 8/4/1995, at Law Faculty Conference Hall, Campus Centre, Delhi University) has maintained that an individual’s basic need is his or her scheme of life. Basic needs must be treated as fundamental right. Whereas Karl Marx contended that the primary basic need is to have companion to perform productive work. And some of the recent writings, have focused on social needs in equality basis with full access to justice. Also, Amartya Sen, prefers and stresses to add another tier which describes as a meta right making possible to achieve the right. (Dworkien’s Theory of Background Rights and Institutional Rights – Website).

Moreover, in prioritizing human needs, the united nations has identified the following list of basic needs :- (i) Nutrition (ii) Shelter, (iii)health, (iv) education, (v) Leisure, (vi) Security (Physical safety and economic security and (vii) environment. And, of course, right to self-determination for “right” and basic needs are complimentary or obligatory to each other subject to unfulfilments of all the need, necessities of life by the authority. However, Conrad; while in his discourses clearly asserted that fulfillment. (K. Ponnuswami : (ibid)) by other social welfare countries like (Germany) / unfulfilment (India) of basic needs as guaranteed by the State is not in itself sufficient or likely to produce lasting social peace. It may be mentioned here, India having not ratified the entire covenant as yet has to explain its position on the matter to the effect that the reference to right of self-determination in Article of the International Covenant on, Economic, Social And Cultural Rights applied only to people under foreign domination, not to independent sovereign states or part of a people or nation. Moreover, in its report of 1991, India was to explain violation of Human Right due to enforcement of AFSPA in North-East of India particularly in Manipur though at present partly removed and Nagaland indicates that India has violated Article 1 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and so also the provisions of optional protocol. India needs to sign and ratify the protocol Additional I and II to Geneva Conventions, 1949, and 1988 Rome Treaty maintained by Pramod in his paper presented in the One-Day Workshop on International Humanitarian Law, Organised by the Royal Academy of Law, Oinam, Manipur with initiated by the Centre for Humanitarian Law Studies and Research Law Faculty, Gauhati University on 12th June, 2005. In the like manner, some groups of our “freedom fighter”, insurgents, etc, etc. Have also violates human rights. Apart from these, we being the citizen should also know our fundamental duties.

As far as justice is concerned, we have noticed and have a smell of it in different ways as propounded by authorities in eminence.

Stone (Julius Stone’s article “Justice and Not Equality” in Hastings Law Journal, 1978, Vol. 29.5; p.995) in his introduction, has maintained that one related tendency of social, political and jurisprudential theorists in the present century has been to seek criteria of justice of vastly simplified indeterminacy or ambiguity, such as ‘fairness’ and ‘equality’ in the hope of escaping the admitted perplexities involved in grappling directly with question of justice and peace.

Whereas, Rawls (John Rawls : A Theory of Justice, Oxford University Press; London, 1972; p.3) opined “Justice” as the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought. A theory however, elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is untrue; likewise laws and institutions no matter how efficient and well arranged must be reformed or abolished if they are unjust. Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override.

Indian legal system is based on colonial idea is, of course, an offshoot of the British India Legal System, how laws being received and the very reception of the same is termed as Top Down Models of the British Indian Legal System by Baxi (Upendra Baxi: (Ibid)). Thus reception of law and endeavouring to modernize the same will not go with the every aspects of day to day life in this present society particularly that of Manipur. Even the 14th Report of the Law Commission of India way back was in 1958, emphatically stated and urged the authority to reform the existing law that should not lie in the abandonment and replacing it by another. The real need of the hour is the inculcation of a higher sense of duty, a greater regard for public convenience, greater efficiency in all those concerned in the administration of justice. Yet, in this 2011’s, we still need the updation of law, i.e. an alternative law (laws) to go with the social reality in India in general however very specifically in states like Manipur.

Law and order operations considered essential for development and nation building also shelter a whole variety of legal and extra legal police and para-military violence (Ugljesa Zvekic (ed): (Ibid pp. 228-229). Progressive criminality of this nature is to be sure, a notoriously global phenomenon, and the use of fatal force by security forces in India, especially through “encounters” in term of art describing civilian casualties in dealing with dacoits, extremists, militants and now terrorists is alarming on the rise. Standard-less use of force by the very custodians of peoples security and well being seems in India justified as an aspect of development, here conceived in terms of reasons of state as reinforcing national unity and integration (Ibid : p.229).

In Europe, more autonomy is given to publics patients have the right to die, the system goes with globalisation, whereas, in India we have only the right to life (only in name sake). There is no crime in suiciding, in Switzerland, people who have been suffering from a boring prefer to die, state authorizes to end their lives, (B.B. Pande : Ibid.). In fact, there is no fantasy it is reality, for the right to die is a basic need for them.

The role of privileged class is very important though the nature and dimension of them is for deviance. How, identifying the “Privileged Class” as the elite class (on the basis of super qualities) or the ruling class (on the basis of ownership of means of production by the traditional and non traditional thinkers (K.S. Shukla (ed) : Other side of Development: Social-Psychological Implications, Sage Publications, N. Delhi, 1987; p.138). In general the term relates to the section or strata of the society who enjoy some kind of position of power or advantage over the rest of population. This group advocates even the laws are selfishly codified without slightest concern of the masses particularly the poorest of the poor and weaker sections of society including women – Super-discrimination. Hence, the law is repressive and negative aspect of the entire positive, civilizing activity undertaken by the State (Antonio Gramsci: State and Civil Society – Website). Also while dealing with cases, the courts maintain the domination of the ruling class by the law strictly. It is particularly high in the exceptional state because of the role of social forces which the supporting classes often play in particular the petty bourgeoisie (Nicos Paulantzas : The Exceptional State – Website).

Dr. Irengbam Mohendra Singh (calling Time on the most unsafe state in India – Manipur on a Swiss Model and article by Dr. I. M. Singh published in the Sangai Express on 24/4/2011) has suggested very apparently the political legitimacy is indeed central to the sustenance of Manipur identity. The existence of secessionist movements reflects a lack of legitimacy. The lack of state legitimacy relates to the rise of ethnic conflict and competing ethno-nationalism. Repressive policies to deal with ethnic dissent are counter-productive.

Like Switzerland, Manipur needs to transform itself into a multi-ethnic state with a sense of collective national identity, each community taking part in common institutions and practices, separated from a ‘culturalist’ and ethnic perspective (Ibid). Such a circle should devise how to build a composite Manipuri identity based on equality or autonomy within the framework of the existing state of Manipur Politicians with such broader aims in their manifestoes should be chosen to form a ‘unitary’ democratic government in Imphal subject to change the capital in the hill areas from time to time so that balancing the whole state regularly takes place in the widest social inclusiveness i.e. “equality indication”. Manipuri’s need a think tank or a policy institute i.e. a non-profit organisation that conducts research and engage in advocacy in areas such as economy, social policy or political strategy that will be fair to all ethnic groups, big or small. There must be ‘give and take’ approach rather than ‘take and give’ policy (Ibid).

Bringing peace in Manipur deals with the following perspectives :
1) Student power -Proper education – education does not mean degrees only – it means a transformation of mind in understanding issues at hand – the comely is facing. Education stabilizes roots of planning and achieving a sense of progress and development.
2) The idea of corruption – must cease, the Government must adopt ‘Zero Tolerance’ of corruption committed by officers, ministers and other sections in the socio-economic and political sectors. Rampant corruption must go.
3) Judicial system must be revamped.
4) Money meant for social development must be utilized for the same.
5) Opening up of economic sector.
6) Trade & commerce – employment generation and the urge of the youth to each a livelihood of dignity must be encouraged.
7) Manipur suffers from ‘indignity’ and callous approach of the authorities that be. It is a beautiful region with lots of potentialities these must be proved, planned and encouraged especially in the sector of tourism.
8) Ethnic clashes should give way to ethnic cooperation and a progress based upon mutual trust and dignified living.
9) The need for the armed forces will go once the various communities start living together without being afraid of each other.
10) Intermarriages should be encouraged.

Conclusion : Peace is not cessation of war; it is a noble way of understanding the impact of wars and the way of avoiding it. Peace is a perception of avoidance of conflict. It is a way of live – Living with inconsistencies and yet not opting for violent means which normally should be the last option.

If Egypt can change and bring about a political peace why can’t Manipur let the youth will it and peace shall prevail.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/08/peace-in-manipur-its-different-dimensions/