(Where clear springs of discourse flow)
David Vumlallian Zou
Queen’s University Belfast, UK
SAKHUA LEH SOCIETY TOH KISAI houlimna a kibawl chiang in, mi khenkhat ten, “Athu a gengen hun hi non lou, asep asep khiat hun ahi ta” achi thei zel uhi. Bible ah zong nasep tellou ginna pen a shi ahi chi i mu hi. Hinanleh misiam tampi ten nasep toh “tongsan samtui chiim bang luan” sah ding a deihuai dan agen uhi. Tongsan (theory) leh nasep kigawm pen English in “praxis” kichi hi. I theisiam din gen mai lei, “Zo naw” toh kilebul chet ahi. “Zo naw” pen tongsan tellou a, ginlelna nei man lou a, asep asep khiat thaw ahi. Shakespeare in Hamlet ah ginlelna chau, nasep tellou a buchin loudan zong agen thou hi. Hinanleh ei singtangmite dinmun ah tongsan leh ginlelna poimo in ka thei hi. Aziahpen ei lah ah, Doubt-Debate-Discussion (tongsan) kithupi sim mel lou abang nalai hi.
Bible ah tongsan chiindan zui dia chialna tampi kimu thei hi. Thuhun Lui ah Pasian leh Job kinialna huaisia i thei ta uhi. Tualeh Pasian in tongkum ding leh kinial ding in mihingte chial gige a, “Hing pei un, tong kikum ve ni” (Isaiah 1:18) achi hial hi. Van leh lei a pilna umteng tongkupna leh kinialna apat hing piangkhe thei ahi zaw hi. Job laibu sung ah Pasian pen kinial hat Toupa ahidan kimu thei hi. Kinialna din ginlelna poimo a, dotna tampi siam ngai leuleu hi. Pasian in Solomon pilna apiah lai in, ginlelna (doubt) tampi apia hi. Bible sung a ginlelna hau pen Solomon hidin agintat huai hi. Ecclesiastes sung a ginlelna toh thugen pen Solomon ahi ngei ding hi: “Mihing tate hagau van lam a kaltou a, gamsate hagau leinuai lam a kumsuh ahi mel bang na thei ei?” (Eccl. 3:21). Mihing leh gamsa ten hagau nei tuah hitaleh, bang e i kikhiatna? chi ginlelna Bible a kigelh na um sun ahi mai ding hi. Thuhun Tha lam ah zong Thomas in ginlelna hau mama a, Jesu liamnate a mit ngei a amu matan gingta lou hi. Mulou a gingtate pen a “hampha” hi, chi i thei ua; hinanleh mu a gingtate theina “detdou” sese ding a, pilhuai sese din i lamen hi.
Khovel a zilna leh theina zousia ginlelna apat hing kipan ahi zing hi. Sir Francis Bacon in, The Advancement of Learning (1605) ah hichin agen hi: “Ginlelna nei theina leh siamkhiatna in manphatna thuapni nei hi”. Khatna ah, ginlelna in theikhelna apat hing vengbit a; anina ah, thudih kichian zaw sem a sui din ahing tawsawn hi (Sen 2005: 27-28). Thudih theina lampi hoi pen ginlelna ahi chi Bacon in ana gen hi. Hinanleh ginna leh kinepna tellou in koima khosa thei lou ding hi. Mihing society leh sakhona pumpi zong ginna leh kimuan ngamna ziah a peipei thei ahi. Dr. David Lipe in “Faith and Knowledge” chi laigelh sung ah, “Ginna leh theina ten tup-le-nim kibang anei uhi” chi hial hi. Ginlelna in theina lampi ah hing pui the a, theina in ginna zong piansah thei zel hi. Hinanleh ginlelna um lou in i phah tawp kitung paipai ding hi. Apoimo pen ahileh tawp lou a thudih sui ding ahia, tawp lou a dotna lampi zui ding ahi. Robert Frost in tantoh a lungkim a hoi lou dan hichin anagen ngai hi:
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep”.
(Muikhua zin kuan singgam dum didialte etlawm sang.
Nanleh ka tongchiamte mualsua nai lou,
Ka zaal masang, lam saupi zui din haibang ei ngah lai).
Tuaziah in ginlelna pen sil bailam hi lou hi. Ginlelna in lunghimawna, dotna hamsa leh sil theichet utna tampi banah houlimna-tongsan manpha zong piansah kha ding hi. Jesu ngei in ama hun a sakhona thuhilna lui (religious orthodoxy) a ginglel a, dotna hamsa tampi abawl gige hi. A dotna te Pharisai leh Sadukai ten zong dawng thei gige lou ua, mi tampi in Jesu a muda law uhi.
Zo minam pumpi Tapidaw asuahna ziah poimo khat ahileh ginlelna ziah ma ahi. Nidang a Lawki biahna pen Pau Cin Hau hun apat ginlel in na um a, dotna hamsa tampi kidot khum hi. Zo sakhua lui a i pi-le-pute gindan in mishite hagau in Mizogam leh Burma gamgi a Rihdil ana gaalkai zel uhi. Samat-galmat nei loute Mishikhua ah a tung ua, mi hausa leh galhatte pen Pialgal gamnuam ah a leeng uhi. Zo sakhona ah nei-le-neilou kikhenna (class division) um zing a, mizawng-te adin Pialgal (Vangam) pen kinep huai seng lou dan ahi. Zogal (World War I) lai in i pi-le-puten Sap-kaang te galhatdan na theikhe pan ta uhi. Tualeh Japan Gal (World War II) sung in Japan mi leh Tuisuahgiat apat mihing nam tuamtuam um ahidan kichian sem in ana thei ta uhi. Nam kideikhop leh kiliansah tah Zo minamte pen Sap-kaangte khutnuai ah hun tomkhat na khosa hi. Tua hun lai in, Sap-te Pasian leh Zo pusa koi zaw ahat zaw diai? chi ginlelna i pi-le-pute lungsim ah Zogal zou vel apat na lut thamtham ta ding hi. 1990 kum a Hiangtam ka zin in, Lawki upa Tapidaw suah ut lou khat ka thei na lai hi. Aman pusa a kibiah a, Bible pen America-te gelh maimai ahi chi gintatna anei hi. Aman Zo sakhona ginglel thei nai lou a, tuaziah in Tapidaw sakhona pen pomthei lou phot hi. Zo minam sung a Kristian suah masate ahileh Lushei gam a suahte – Bawi kichite – ban ah numei naupang lamte ahi deu uhi. Tapidaw pen migenthei leh liangvaite sakhona dan in i pi-le-puten na en zing uh ahi chi Upa Thanga (1883-1957) laphuah apat kimu thei hi:
“Mangpa loupi pen ka hing pahtawi uhi …
Lungkhamte sal liangvai migi loute din,
Sangngate gentheite, Mangpa leh Pasian …
Na tate ka leh mauna na ngaikhe leng …
Nam chin mial apat sal a pawt kipah hen …” (ZWS 2003).
Tapidaw na suah masa penpente samat-galmat tung tawn a Pialgal tung dia kinepna nei khawl lou teng ahi sim hi. Etsahna din, ka pu pen Lawki siampu ahina toh na shi a, hinanleh meithai-taga ka pi Telluan pen Khristian na suah hi. Ginlelna ziah in khovel kisiamdan hilchetna tha hing um thei a, Zo sakhona apat Sap-kaangte sakhona theichet utna hing um thei pan hi. Mizogam ah Rev. (Dr.) Zairema hun apat Tumlam gam a Welsh missionary-te sinsahna nasatah in ki ginglel pan a, dotna tampi na bawl khum hi. Tunai in Rev. (Dr.) Lalchhuanawma in Christianity and Subaltern Culture (2006) ah missionary-te sinsahna nasatah in thusitna a bawl khum hi. Pasian in Sapte a veh chiang in Sap zia in a veh a, Kol-te kung ah Kol dan in akilah a, Zo minamten zong Pasian pen Zo zia a biah ding ahidan Mizo lamkaiten anah gen mama uhi. Zo minam ten Sap-kaangte zia leh “theology” toh Pasian biah ding kisam sese lou ahidan nasatah in agen uhi. Zo tapidaw sung a kikhen-kibalhna tampite zong Tumlam gamte “theology” nengneng te ziah ahi zel hi.
Ginlelna pen dotna leh tongsan in zui thei leh chi lunggul huai hi. Tongsan chiindan pen Zo pasalte guah kihuai tuam na ding hi lou hi. Khanglui lai in pa-thununna (patriarchy) nuai ah na kikhosa a, inn sung leh khotang vaihawmna ah numeite na kipampaih hi. Zi vua leh sat (domestic violence) chiindan zong tuni tan in Zodawn lam ah bei nai lou hi. Pa-thununna toh kisai ginlel ding leh kidot ding thu tampi um hi. Zonu a mawl vang in thudot in um ngai lou a, a mawlna henkol sutna din koi man laitheina (literacy skills) zong penuam tuan lou hi. Zodawn lam ah kum 30 Sunde Skul a kai vang a, A AW zong simthei nai lou Khristian numei tampi um nalai hi. Sunde Skul tung tawn a Zo nute laisim dan kisinsah ding Pasian in a daal amah? Dal lou ding hi. Khovel ah kikhenna chi tampi um hi – khopi/khota tenna mun (domicile), azawng ahau (class) kikhenna, numei/pasal (gender) kikhenna, lai thei leh thei lou (education), chi leh nam (ethnicity) a kidaidanna tampi um hi. Hichibang kikhenna khovel ah Zodawn a teeng kha, income nei lou, Zo “tribe” neu khat sung a numei laithei lou a piang khate dinmun se petma hi. Singtang lou hou a kivah inn kuan sung ah zong pasal sang in numei dinmun niam deu sese a, pasal Bible sim thei lou sang in numei Bible sim thei lou tam deu sese hi. Hichibang dinmun hamsa tah a um Zodawn mite Second Coming thu toh galgih sang in Literacy Mission leh Survival Skills khenkhat kihil leh manpha zaw din a lamet huai hi.
Zodawn a zawnna bulpi pen khat ahileh Land Reforms um lou ziah leh singtang lou haw ziah ahi. Mimal a gam nei (private property) poimaw masa hi. Mimal a gam i nei matan Zogam neitu um lou china ahi. Hausa title subei sese lou a, Zogam mimal khut a neitu hina um theina dia Land Reform bawl thei ahi. Britain ah zong Leeng hina subei sese lou in, gam pen private property suah thei thou hi.
Tu dinmun Manipur singtanggam ah kivaihawmna mumal um lou hi. Tualsung vaihawmna um lou ziah in, athaluang in tangval thau tawite khut nuai ah i ki-enkol mai uhi. Mipi deina toh kiteel tualsung vaihawmna chikhat kisam mama hi. Minam khantouna din zauna bei a tong kikup ding poimaw hi. Ginlelna leh dotna tampi bawl a, khat leh khat tong kisan tuah a, asep asep mai hilou a, Social Policy kichian tah a kikup gige ding poimo hi. Ei Zo minam sung ah mipi tongsan (public debate) chiindan um lou in na tampi na kisem gige hi. Mabah ah TV, newspaper, seminar leh debating forum tuamtuam zang a minam adia poimo thu khat photphot kikup ngatngat ding dei huai ta hi. Tualeh Right to Information Bill chite zong feltah a zat thei ahina din mipi leh thutha-saite adin pilvan huai sa ing. I pastor leh sakhua nasepte zong khantouna (development), Human Rights leh social issue tuamtuam a nasep leh thugen a tusang a ahing kihal tam sem ding uh dei huai hi. Thudih gen na hi phot leh, zau ding um lou a, taan ngam (sacrifice) zong khat veivei kisam mai thei ding hi. Pastor ten silpiah (tithes), Building Fund leh Second Coming thu maimai agen thei ding uh chi Bible ah kimu sam lou hi. Nidang a OT zawlnei-kamsang ten zong khotang hutdamna leh politics thu nasatah in ana gen tham uhi. Tongsan samtui chiim bang luan din Pu Rabindranath Tagore in hichin Pasian kung ah thumna na nei kha hi:
“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free …
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action –
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake” (Tagore 2002: 35).
(Lung shi lou a, lu dopsang ngam na mun ah,
Siamna leh pilna zalenna mun ah,
Tui chiim bang a lungsim ngaisutna gilte, ngaidan lui sehnel gamgaw lah a agammang louna mun,
Lunggel piching sem leh nasep tangzai zaw sem dia nangman lungsim na kehletna mun ah,
Pa aw, tuabang zaleenna vangam ah, ka gamlei hing phong tan).
Laibu-ette (Bibliography)
Lipe, David L. (undated) “Faith and Knowledge” [On-line] http://www.apologeticspress.org , accessed 28 April 2006.
Sen, Amartya (2005) The Argumentative Indian, London: Penguin Books.
SL&PB (2004)Kristian Hla Bu, Aizawl: Synod Literature & Publication Board.
Tagore, Rabindranath (2002) Gitanjali, New Delhi: Indialog Publications.
Vanlalchhuanawma (2006) Christianity and Subaltern Culture, Delhi: ISPCK.
ZWS (2003) “Mangpa Loupipen”, Zou Worship Service Shillong Hymn Book, Shillong.
* April 2006 sung in Aizawl apat Guite road zui in, Singngat ka tawn tou a, Lamka tan ka va pha hi. Guite road leh Tedim road dinmun siatdan i mu chiang in, ngaisutna tampi hing neisah hi. Mimal puahnatna thu gen ut tampi um maleh, i gam bouruak in a zil lou ziah in koima a ham ngam um lou in ka thei hi. Solkar mai in mimal zalenna dal lou in, ei sung a thautawi te leh sakhona in zong mimal zalenna daal pha in kilang hi. I gam dinmun toh kisai lunghimawna khenkhat tun ka hing kum nuam hi.
David Vumlallian Zou
Queen’s University Belfast, UK
SAKHUA LEH SOCIETY TOH KISAI houlimna a kibawl chiang in, mi khenkhat ten, “Athu a gengen hun hi non lou, asep asep khiat hun ahi ta” achi thei zel uhi. Bible ah zong nasep tellou ginna pen a shi ahi chi i mu hi. Hinanleh misiam tampi ten nasep toh “tongsan samtui chiim bang luan” sah ding a deihuai dan agen uhi. Tongsan (theory) leh nasep kigawm pen English in “praxis” kichi hi. I theisiam din gen mai lei, “Zo naw” toh kilebul chet ahi. “Zo naw” pen tongsan tellou a, ginlelna nei man lou a, asep asep khiat thaw ahi. Shakespeare in Hamlet ah ginlelna chau, nasep tellou a buchin loudan zong agen thou hi. Hinanleh ei singtangmite dinmun ah tongsan leh ginlelna poimo in ka thei hi. Aziahpen ei lah ah, Doubt-Debate-Discussion (tongsan) kithupi sim mel lou abang nalai hi.
Bible ah tongsan chiindan zui dia chialna tampi kimu thei hi. Thuhun Lui ah Pasian leh Job kinialna huaisia i thei ta uhi. Tualeh Pasian in tongkum ding leh kinial ding in mihingte chial gige a, “Hing pei un, tong kikum ve ni” (Isaiah 1:18) achi hial hi. Van leh lei a pilna umteng tongkupna leh kinialna apat hing piangkhe thei ahi zaw hi. Job laibu sung ah Pasian pen kinial hat Toupa ahidan kimu thei hi. Kinialna din ginlelna poimo a, dotna tampi siam ngai leuleu hi. Pasian in Solomon pilna apiah lai in, ginlelna (doubt) tampi apia hi. Bible sung a ginlelna hau pen Solomon hidin agintat huai hi. Ecclesiastes sung a ginlelna toh thugen pen Solomon ahi ngei ding hi: “Mihing tate hagau van lam a kaltou a, gamsate hagau leinuai lam a kumsuh ahi mel bang na thei ei?” (Eccl. 3:21). Mihing leh gamsa ten hagau nei tuah hitaleh, bang e i kikhiatna? chi ginlelna Bible a kigelh na um sun ahi mai ding hi. Thuhun Tha lam ah zong Thomas in ginlelna hau mama a, Jesu liamnate a mit ngei a amu matan gingta lou hi. Mulou a gingtate pen a “hampha” hi, chi i thei ua; hinanleh mu a gingtate theina “detdou” sese ding a, pilhuai sese din i lamen hi.
Khovel a zilna leh theina zousia ginlelna apat hing kipan ahi zing hi. Sir Francis Bacon in, The Advancement of Learning (1605) ah hichin agen hi: “Ginlelna nei theina leh siamkhiatna in manphatna thuapni nei hi”. Khatna ah, ginlelna in theikhelna apat hing vengbit a; anina ah, thudih kichian zaw sem a sui din ahing tawsawn hi (Sen 2005: 27-28). Thudih theina lampi hoi pen ginlelna ahi chi Bacon in ana gen hi. Hinanleh ginna leh kinepna tellou in koima khosa thei lou ding hi. Mihing society leh sakhona pumpi zong ginna leh kimuan ngamna ziah a peipei thei ahi. Dr. David Lipe in “Faith and Knowledge” chi laigelh sung ah, “Ginna leh theina ten tup-le-nim kibang anei uhi” chi hial hi. Ginlelna in theina lampi ah hing pui the a, theina in ginna zong piansah thei zel hi. Hinanleh ginlelna um lou in i phah tawp kitung paipai ding hi. Apoimo pen ahileh tawp lou a thudih sui ding ahia, tawp lou a dotna lampi zui ding ahi. Robert Frost in tantoh a lungkim a hoi lou dan hichin anagen ngai hi:
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep”.
(Muikhua zin kuan singgam dum didialte etlawm sang.
Nanleh ka tongchiamte mualsua nai lou,
Ka zaal masang, lam saupi zui din haibang ei ngah lai).
Tuaziah in ginlelna pen sil bailam hi lou hi. Ginlelna in lunghimawna, dotna hamsa leh sil theichet utna tampi banah houlimna-tongsan manpha zong piansah kha ding hi. Jesu ngei in ama hun a sakhona thuhilna lui (religious orthodoxy) a ginglel a, dotna hamsa tampi abawl gige hi. A dotna te Pharisai leh Sadukai ten zong dawng thei gige lou ua, mi tampi in Jesu a muda law uhi.
Zo minam pumpi Tapidaw asuahna ziah poimo khat ahileh ginlelna ziah ma ahi. Nidang a Lawki biahna pen Pau Cin Hau hun apat ginlel in na um a, dotna hamsa tampi kidot khum hi. Zo sakhua lui a i pi-le-pute gindan in mishite hagau in Mizogam leh Burma gamgi a Rihdil ana gaalkai zel uhi. Samat-galmat nei loute Mishikhua ah a tung ua, mi hausa leh galhatte pen Pialgal gamnuam ah a leeng uhi. Zo sakhona ah nei-le-neilou kikhenna (class division) um zing a, mizawng-te adin Pialgal (Vangam) pen kinep huai seng lou dan ahi. Zogal (World War I) lai in i pi-le-puten Sap-kaang te galhatdan na theikhe pan ta uhi. Tualeh Japan Gal (World War II) sung in Japan mi leh Tuisuahgiat apat mihing nam tuamtuam um ahidan kichian sem in ana thei ta uhi. Nam kideikhop leh kiliansah tah Zo minamte pen Sap-kaangte khutnuai ah hun tomkhat na khosa hi. Tua hun lai in, Sap-te Pasian leh Zo pusa koi zaw ahat zaw diai? chi ginlelna i pi-le-pute lungsim ah Zogal zou vel apat na lut thamtham ta ding hi. 1990 kum a Hiangtam ka zin in, Lawki upa Tapidaw suah ut lou khat ka thei na lai hi. Aman pusa a kibiah a, Bible pen America-te gelh maimai ahi chi gintatna anei hi. Aman Zo sakhona ginglel thei nai lou a, tuaziah in Tapidaw sakhona pen pomthei lou phot hi. Zo minam sung a Kristian suah masate ahileh Lushei gam a suahte – Bawi kichite – ban ah numei naupang lamte ahi deu uhi. Tapidaw pen migenthei leh liangvaite sakhona dan in i pi-le-puten na en zing uh ahi chi Upa Thanga (1883-1957) laphuah apat kimu thei hi:
“Mangpa loupi pen ka hing pahtawi uhi …
Lungkhamte sal liangvai migi loute din,
Sangngate gentheite, Mangpa leh Pasian …
Na tate ka leh mauna na ngaikhe leng …
Nam chin mial apat sal a pawt kipah hen …” (ZWS 2003).
Tapidaw na suah masa penpente samat-galmat tung tawn a Pialgal tung dia kinepna nei khawl lou teng ahi sim hi. Etsahna din, ka pu pen Lawki siampu ahina toh na shi a, hinanleh meithai-taga ka pi Telluan pen Khristian na suah hi. Ginlelna ziah in khovel kisiamdan hilchetna tha hing um thei a, Zo sakhona apat Sap-kaangte sakhona theichet utna hing um thei pan hi. Mizogam ah Rev. (Dr.) Zairema hun apat Tumlam gam a Welsh missionary-te sinsahna nasatah in ki ginglel pan a, dotna tampi na bawl khum hi. Tunai in Rev. (Dr.) Lalchhuanawma in Christianity and Subaltern Culture (2006) ah missionary-te sinsahna nasatah in thusitna a bawl khum hi. Pasian in Sapte a veh chiang in Sap zia in a veh a, Kol-te kung ah Kol dan in akilah a, Zo minamten zong Pasian pen Zo zia a biah ding ahidan Mizo lamkaiten anah gen mama uhi. Zo minam ten Sap-kaangte zia leh “theology” toh Pasian biah ding kisam sese lou ahidan nasatah in agen uhi. Zo tapidaw sung a kikhen-kibalhna tampite zong Tumlam gamte “theology” nengneng te ziah ahi zel hi.
Ginlelna pen dotna leh tongsan in zui thei leh chi lunggul huai hi. Tongsan chiindan pen Zo pasalte guah kihuai tuam na ding hi lou hi. Khanglui lai in pa-thununna (patriarchy) nuai ah na kikhosa a, inn sung leh khotang vaihawmna ah numeite na kipampaih hi. Zi vua leh sat (domestic violence) chiindan zong tuni tan in Zodawn lam ah bei nai lou hi. Pa-thununna toh kisai ginlel ding leh kidot ding thu tampi um hi. Zonu a mawl vang in thudot in um ngai lou a, a mawlna henkol sutna din koi man laitheina (literacy skills) zong penuam tuan lou hi. Zodawn lam ah kum 30 Sunde Skul a kai vang a, A AW zong simthei nai lou Khristian numei tampi um nalai hi. Sunde Skul tung tawn a Zo nute laisim dan kisinsah ding Pasian in a daal amah? Dal lou ding hi. Khovel ah kikhenna chi tampi um hi – khopi/khota tenna mun (domicile), azawng ahau (class) kikhenna, numei/pasal (gender) kikhenna, lai thei leh thei lou (education), chi leh nam (ethnicity) a kidaidanna tampi um hi. Hichibang kikhenna khovel ah Zodawn a teeng kha, income nei lou, Zo “tribe” neu khat sung a numei laithei lou a piang khate dinmun se petma hi. Singtang lou hou a kivah inn kuan sung ah zong pasal sang in numei dinmun niam deu sese a, pasal Bible sim thei lou sang in numei Bible sim thei lou tam deu sese hi. Hichibang dinmun hamsa tah a um Zodawn mite Second Coming thu toh galgih sang in Literacy Mission leh Survival Skills khenkhat kihil leh manpha zaw din a lamet huai hi.
Zodawn a zawnna bulpi pen khat ahileh Land Reforms um lou ziah leh singtang lou haw ziah ahi. Mimal a gam nei (private property) poimaw masa hi. Mimal a gam i nei matan Zogam neitu um lou china ahi. Hausa title subei sese lou a, Zogam mimal khut a neitu hina um theina dia Land Reform bawl thei ahi. Britain ah zong Leeng hina subei sese lou in, gam pen private property suah thei thou hi.
Tu dinmun Manipur singtanggam ah kivaihawmna mumal um lou hi. Tualsung vaihawmna um lou ziah in, athaluang in tangval thau tawite khut nuai ah i ki-enkol mai uhi. Mipi deina toh kiteel tualsung vaihawmna chikhat kisam mama hi. Minam khantouna din zauna bei a tong kikup ding poimaw hi. Ginlelna leh dotna tampi bawl a, khat leh khat tong kisan tuah a, asep asep mai hilou a, Social Policy kichian tah a kikup gige ding poimo hi. Ei Zo minam sung ah mipi tongsan (public debate) chiindan um lou in na tampi na kisem gige hi. Mabah ah TV, newspaper, seminar leh debating forum tuamtuam zang a minam adia poimo thu khat photphot kikup ngatngat ding dei huai ta hi. Tualeh Right to Information Bill chite zong feltah a zat thei ahina din mipi leh thutha-saite adin pilvan huai sa ing. I pastor leh sakhua nasepte zong khantouna (development), Human Rights leh social issue tuamtuam a nasep leh thugen a tusang a ahing kihal tam sem ding uh dei huai hi. Thudih gen na hi phot leh, zau ding um lou a, taan ngam (sacrifice) zong khat veivei kisam mai thei ding hi. Pastor ten silpiah (tithes), Building Fund leh Second Coming thu maimai agen thei ding uh chi Bible ah kimu sam lou hi. Nidang a OT zawlnei-kamsang ten zong khotang hutdamna leh politics thu nasatah in ana gen tham uhi. Tongsan samtui chiim bang luan din Pu Rabindranath Tagore in hichin Pasian kung ah thumna na nei kha hi:
“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free …
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action –
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake” (Tagore 2002: 35).
(Lung shi lou a, lu dopsang ngam na mun ah,
Siamna leh pilna zalenna mun ah,
Tui chiim bang a lungsim ngaisutna gilte, ngaidan lui sehnel gamgaw lah a agammang louna mun,
Lunggel piching sem leh nasep tangzai zaw sem dia nangman lungsim na kehletna mun ah,
Pa aw, tuabang zaleenna vangam ah, ka gamlei hing phong tan).
Laibu-ette (Bibliography)
Lipe, David L. (undated) “Faith and Knowledge” [On-line] http://www.apologeticspress.org , accessed 28 April 2006.
Sen, Amartya (2005) The Argumentative Indian, London: Penguin Books.
SL&PB (2004)Kristian Hla Bu, Aizawl: Synod Literature & Publication Board.
Tagore, Rabindranath (2002) Gitanjali, New Delhi: Indialog Publications.
Vanlalchhuanawma (2006) Christianity and Subaltern Culture, Delhi: ISPCK.
ZWS (2003) “Mangpa Loupipen”, Zou Worship Service Shillong Hymn Book, Shillong.
* April 2006 sung in Aizawl apat Guite road zui in, Singngat ka tawn tou a, Lamka tan ka va pha hi. Guite road leh Tedim road dinmun siatdan i mu chiang in, ngaisutna tampi hing neisah hi. Mimal puahnatna thu gen ut tampi um maleh, i gam bouruak in a zil lou ziah in koima a ham ngam um lou in ka thei hi. Solkar mai in mimal zalenna dal lou in, ei sung a thautawi te leh sakhona in zong mimal zalenna daal pha in kilang hi. I gam dinmun toh kisai lunghimawna khenkhat tun ka hing kum nuam hi.
=====================================================================
About the Author
Qualifications
B.A. (English major) St. Anthony’s College, Shillong, NEHU, India, 1998
M. A . (Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, India) 2000
M.Phil. (CHS, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) 2002
Current PhD Research:
B.A. (English major) St. Anthony’s College, Shillong, NEHU, India, 1998
M. A . (Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, India) 2000
M.Phil. (CHS, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) 2002
Current PhD Research:
“The Interaction of Print Culture, Language and Identity in Northeast India”
At present, I am in the “space and cultural research group” of the School of Geography, Queen’s University Belfast.
During the early colonial British period, print culture facilitated the formation of ‘standard languages’ by eliminating a number of closely linked, but smaller dialects which were never reduced to writing due to considerations of the economy of time and energy by the Christian missionaries and the colonial state.
With the diffusion of print culture over time and space, it has the effect of fragmentation when a number of closely linked linguistic families reflected ‘dialectal chauvinism’, and legitimise their linguistic identities and differences by reducing their dialects to writing and the printed word – especially by Bible translation.
Print culture is closely linked to either formation of standard languages or legitimisation of dialectal differences in Northeast India where language is often the basis of group identity. Language politics, for instance, shaped the Assam-ese identity vis-à-vis the Bengali identity, which had once been clubbed together along with Assam.
Previous M. Phil. Research
Between 2000 and 2002, I completed my dissertation on “Colonial Discourse and Local Knowledge: Representing Northeast India, 1824-1947”. The years from 1826 to 1947 represent the whole period of British incorporation of the region into the Indian Empire, even though it is true that different parts of the Northeast came under colonial administration at different points of time within the period that we have indicated. It was for the first time that many part of this peripheral region were made available for textual production and citation in colonial narrative of the last Imperial Age. The aim of this work is not to chronicle a comprehensive history of colonial Northeast India, but rather to focus on less studied areas of cultural and social encounters between the British and the natives of the region from the early 19th century till India’s independence. However, this will at the same time throw useful side-light on the ordinary historical scholarship that is preoccupied with the study of political and administrative history of the region. Conventional colonial history of the Northeast has unduly privileged the agency of colonial actors such as missionaries and administrators; therefore, it has failed to recognize the texted character of these agents and histories, and the discursively complex nature of their endeavours. This work is partly an effort to correct this fallacy that has marked conventional history by mapping an alternative strategy of reading (or counter-reading) the sources of colonial history and also by underlining the forms of local knowledge that colonial discourse tends to ignore.
Key words:
print culture, Northeast India, colonial discourse, headhunting and human sacrifices, ethnic conflict, imperial survey, mapping , language and identity
Research Interests
ü Print culture, history of the book, and cultural impact of printing technology.
ü Aspects of colonial and historical geography. epecially in South Asia.
ü Comparative studies of social anthropology and history.
ü Evangelical discourse and history of Christian missions in tribal areas.
ü Ethnic identity and ‘low intensity conflicts’.
Recent Publications
“Colonial Discourse and Evangelical Imagining on Northeast India”, Religion and Society , Vol. 48, No. 2, June 2003, pp.57 – 93.
“Raiding the Dreaded Past: Representaions of Headhunting and Human Sacrifice in Northeast India” (forthcoming in 2004), Contributions to Indian Sociology
Papers Submitted
“The ‘Reciprocal Vision’ in ‘Imperial Formations’: Colonial Encounter and Local Informants in Northeast India” submitted to Comparative Studies in Society and History (under review).
“Seams of History: Narrating Colonial Northeast” presented at the JNU History Association Annual Seminar 2003 sponsored jointly by the Indian Council of Historical Association and Orient Longman. Submitted to Indian Economic and Social History Review (under review).
Other Papers
“Micro-history of Conflict in Northeast India: A case study of contemporary Manipur” (being revised for publication)
“Imperial Survey in ‘knowing the country’: Mapping colonial Northeast India” (co-authored with Dr. M. Satish Kumar, and being revised for publication)
“Northeast India in Colonial Writings (1824-1947): A Preliminary Inquiry into the Discursive Practices of the Raj at the Periphery of Its Empire”
“Growth of the Local Church Movement among the Zo People in Manipur and Mizoram, 1894-1981”
“Resistance Movement against British Imperialism in Manipur, 1891-1940”
Professional Activities
Currently engaged in demonstration for a taught course, “Geography of Third World urbanisation and Sustainable Development” at the School of Geography, Queen’s University Belfast (Module 210 GGY 339).
Rapporteur for the International Conference on Environmental History of Asia, sponsored by Zakir Hussain Centre for Educational Studies,Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi: and Centre for World Environmental History, University of Susex, from 4-7 December 2002.
Delegate at the Seminar on “Peace through Development in Northeast India”; 5-6 October 2000 at Conference Hall, Young Men Chrissstian Association (YMCA), New Delhi, organised by All India Tribal Students Associaation and North-East Division, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
Participated in the seminar on “Getting Published” and “Small Group Teaching”, 23 January 2004, organisd by the School of Geography and Staff Training & Development Unit, Queen’s University Belfast.
Awards & Others
1998: Awarded the Merit-cum-Means Scholarship for MA programme sponsored by the School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University
2002: Awarded the M.Phil. Travel and Study Grant by the Indian Council for Historical Research
2001: Awarded the National Eligibility for Lecturership Certificate by the University Grants Commission, Government of India
No comments:
Post a Comment