Article on Manipur

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http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/may/10tarun.htm

 

May 10, 2005

 

With the NDA in strange boycott mode, which nobody either understands or

supports, and the nationalists and secularists in narcissistic mood, either

appreciating their mirror images or trying to settle scores with each other,

god seems to be the only agency available to take care of national affairs,

as devotees would like to see, believing this is god's own nation.

 

Hence we can be content with our IIC (the India International Centre)

discussions and missiles on the Election Commission. The nation is perfectly

in the hands of the upper storied Master of the Heavens.

 

Manipur is in serious turmoil, yet none bothers. It is a jewel in the crown

of the age-long civilisational body of the nation, surrounded by beautiful

lakes, mountains, inhabited by the great dancers and scholars and poets who

have influenced the heart and mind of rest of India and taken the fragrance

of our cultural garden far and wide around the globe. But now it is burning

and the soul of India is in tears.

 

Last week the greatest treasure of the tiny tribal state, a library

containing thousands of rare manuscripts and books, dating hundreds of years

back, was burnt down. The physical losses ran into several crores of rupees,

but the real value can never be calculated, as the national treasure of the

rarest of manuscripts and literature is lost forever.

 

It was burnt because the local Meitei movement, actively supported by the

Communists and the church, wanted the Bengali script to be replaced by

Meitei and the library contained books in the Bengali script, because that

has been the long time cherished tradition of the state.

 

Now, who owns Bengali? It is an Indian script, having its roots in Sanskrit

and a perfect national language. Why should the love for Meitei be

transformed into a hatred for Bengali? Knowledge in any language and script

is precious and needs to be preserved unless you decide to be the Taliban,

happy to destroy a Bamiyan and a Takshshila.

 

But neither the so-called mainline press nor mainland politicians bothered

to read the agony of Manipur and kept issuing statements on the Election

Commission and the blunder-land called Parliament. Manipur is bleeding and

its age-long relations with the rest of India and her traditions are under

great strain.

 

Why Manipur is burning

 

A couple of months back the vice-chancellor of Manipur University was

abducted and tortured, because the extremist organisation Kanglei Yayol

Kannan Lup wanted its own man to head the audio-visual research centre at

the university. He had, in fact, appointed a person supported by another

extremist students organisation, the United National Liberation Front, and

was later shot in the leg. None protested, not the faculty nor the students.

 

In Manipur, the national song is banned and is not sung either in schools or

any other public platform. Even Manipuri books are not allowed to include it

in their pages. In the text book screening committees, set up by the

government representatives of separatist organisations like the All Manipur

Students Union, the Democratic Students Alliance of Manipur, the Manipur

Students Federation (a Maoist outfit) force the committee to teach only

Manipur issues, leaving out of its gambit Gandhi, Nehru and other national

heroes. The State Council of Research and Training just cannot say 'no' to

these elements.

 

The Manipur Implosion

 

In a Robin Hood role, student organisations check teachers' conduct and cut

their salary if they are found to be absent from classes. The money

collected is deposited in students' organisations accounts.

 

In the government sector, the Kanglipak Communist Party, the United National

Liberation Front and the Kanglei Yayol Kannan Lup are most active and impose

a 'tax' none can refuse. Government employees are forced to give 1 to 2 per

cent of their salary and each central project contractor or the officer in

charge has to cough up 10 to 20 percent of the project cost. It is all in

the open.

 

People who have the 'blessings' of the separatist organisations run the show

in the offices like gangsters, become the source of all information and

guide the 'actions' if needed. The separatist movements have taken root with

clear support from Leftist extremist groups and church-inspired elements.

 

The Soldier's Dilemma

 

This tendency has further been strengthened by the sheer apathy of the Delhi

sultans, who remain satisfied with their blurred image of a Hindustan, which

does not really matter beyond Kolkata in the east.

 

The last ten years have seen a meticulous consolidation of the separatist

forces. The AMSU was formed in 1962 as a genuine students body, which was

'taken over' by the separatist UNLF in 1997. The People's Liberation Army,

another insurgent outfit, ended up having a different students body named

the Manipur Students Federation (Maoist).

 

A breakaway group from the UNLF was formed as the KYKL in 1985 which joined

hands with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland -- Isaaac-Muivah group

(NSCN-IM) who helped it counter the influence of the UNLF, its arch enemy.

The KYKL has established its students group, DESAM, having almost total

control over Manipur University.

 

Another influential revivalist movement leader revered is Khonangthava who

emerged as a powerful reformist in the early 20th century and emphasised

Manipur's pre-Vaishnavite traditions. After great debate and pressure from

separatist students organisations, the vice-chancellor had to concede their

demand to have his statue on the university campus, though the teachers

opposed it saying Khonangthava was neither a religious leader not an

academician.

 

Mass murders, burning of books, denouncing Indian tradition and laws, nude

demonstrations against army 'brutalities' and Delhi's rule and opposing

anything that makes Manipur undisputedly a part of the national mosaic are

the signs representing this tiny state of the famous Radha Krishna dance

forms and a great tradition of literature. Anyone listening?

 

When you push your own people to harder options even to meet modest

legitimate demands, old ties are severed in a fit of anger, that's the

lesson of history Delhi should not forget.

 

Tarun Vijay is the editor of Panchjanya, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

weekly. The views expressed here are his own. He can be reached at

tarunvijay (AT) vsnl (DOT) com

 

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