Territorial Integrity Of Manipur

By T Gouzadou

Manipur has been a part of India for centuries and to say that Manipur was not a part of India is like to say that Hyderabad was not a part of India. The boundary of Manipur has been in existence for hundreds of years even before the British conquered Manipur in 1891. We cannot deny the fact that Meities and tribals have been living together in Manipur since time immemorial. As the Meiteis community is the biggest community in Manipur their relation with the tribals may be compared to that of eldest brother with his younger brothers.The Meitei community may be regarded as the natural eldest brother amongst the communities of Manipur, and the other communities as the younger brother of Meitei community.

As the love of a natural parent is greater than the love of an adopted parent, the love of Meitei community must be greater than the love of other communities elsewhere. As long as our 'eldest brother' desire to live in peace with his 'younger brothers', it will not be healthy policy on the part of any of his brothers (tribes) to attempt to 'adopted eldest brother' in place of natural eldest brother.When the eldest brother in a family is wise enough to take care of his younger brothers, all of them can live happily loving one another even after each of the brothers had his own family. As the biggest brothers have the biggest responsibility to maintain integrity in the family, the Meitei community has the biggest responsibility to protect the territorial integrity of Manipur. Before the birth of insurgency in the valley there was peace in the valley areas.

As the eldest brother sometimes neglects to make amicable settlement among his younger brothers, the Meitei community failed to play the part of eldest brother when the Naga and the Kukis were fighting in 1990s.After the birth of insurgency in the valley Manipur has been moving backwards every year. The inability of the Government to pay salaries of Government employees regularly proves that the Government is on the way of bankruptcy. The fear for disintegration of Manipur is a proof that the unity of the people is not strong. The deterioration of law and order situation in the State has brought a sense of insecurity in the hearts of the people. Educational institutions and Government offices are no longer up to expectation on account of insurgency problems.Since our leaders, namely, Naki Ahmed Chowdhury, Koireng Singh and many others, who are sons of Manipur, had taken part in the freedom struggle of India during World War II, it will be wise policy for Manipur not to secede from India for obvious reasons.

Being Indians any one of us can become the President or the Prime Minister of India provided he/she has the capacity to hold such post. It will be better for all of us to live together in Manipur without any thought of secession from Manipur or from India.The government and the people should get the most qualified person to hold responsible post sin the State. In Manipur University, Professors from outside Manipur could not stay long in Manipur because they thought Manipur was not safe for them. If we really desire to have a good university, we must be ready to accept a highly qualified competent person from any part of India to be the Vice Chancellor of Manipur University.The general belief is that the post of Vice Chancellor is reserved for highly talented professors of universities. Even if the most qualified person is appointed Vice Chancellor of Manipur University, the University will not improve if he is dictated or threatened by student organizations or political organizations because he will have to satisfy them at the cost of the university. Dr Ng. Bijoy Singh, Director of RIMS becomes the Vice Chancellor. May God help him to improve the Manipur University. Till this time the general public has the impression that Manipur means Meitei.

A tribal does not think that he is a Manipuri. If someone asks him whether he is a Manipuri, his reply will be, "I am not a Manipuri, I am so and so…" Such feeling has weakened the unity of Manipur. Therefore it is necessary that the Government of Manipur means any permanent resident of Manipur irrespective of caste or creed and the word Manipuri language means the language spoken by the Meitei community.A Tangkhul may say that Nagas of Nagaland are his kith and kin. There is no doubt about it. However, Meitei tradition says that on the occasion of the Meiteis' marriage a cloth called 'Tangkhul Leirum phi' is always included as a compulsory item of gift., though quite small, of the parents to their daughter bride.It may not be wrong to say that this particular tradition is a proof of blood relationship of Meiteis with Tangkhuls.

It may be presumed that Tangkhul are closer to Meiteis than to any other Naga tribe though they are under Naga nomenclature. On the other hand, a Kuki may say that he has his relatives in Myanmar. Since his so-called relatives of Myanmar are citizens of foreign country his relations with Meiteis ought to be more cordial than his relation with those who live in another country. Therefore the best thing for us is to make Manipur a land of peace so that the bond of unity amongst all the communities of Manipur can be strengthened.Leaders of United Committee Manipur (UCM) and All Manipur United Clubs Organization (AMUCO) should visit the hill district headquarters to hold meetings with the public leaders, church leaders, social workers and the district administration. They may please explain the necessity of emotional and territorial integrity of Manipur. Such meetings will be a way to strengthen brotherhood of hills and plains.