Manipur News

The post WAD to organised fortnight event appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

IMPHAL Nov 20: The Women Action for Development, WAD is set to observe the forthcoming ‘International Fortnight Protesting Violence against Women’ with a fortnight long event in different parts of the state. 

This year observation will be themed as “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Lets Challenge Militarism and End Violence against Women”, as said by a release today.

The said 14-day event would be held from November, 25 to December, 12.

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The post CSO memorandum on Loktak Scam appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

IMPHAL Nov 20:  Various leading civil society organisation of the state have submitted a memorandum to central political honchos demanding CBI enquiry into the infamous 224 crore K-PRO Loktak Lake scam.

The said memorandum was submitted to President, Pranab Mukherjee; Chairperson, UPA, Sonia Gandhi; General Secretary, AICC, Rahul Gandhi;  Manipur-in-Charge, AICC, Luizinho Faleiro; Deputy Chairman, Panning commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia; President, Partners of UPA;  President, All national Political Parties, State Governor, Gurbachan Jagat and President, Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee.

The participating CSOs representatives that demands to unravel the truth and to duly punish the culprits are FRIENDS, PANDM, LIPUL, UNACSU, and HERICOUN.

According to the information available, the memorandum also appeals to suspend all the concern authority and halt the current work pertained to biomass cleaning, and to initiated CBI enquiry under the supervision of a neutral body into the scam and to reveal the truth. The memorandum further warn that if positive response is overlooked, then they may compel to launch democratic agitation against the incumbent ruling party.  

The memorandum also highlights the important of Loktak Lake and it’s binding with the people history, culture and religion of the state. 

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The post Cyclist to promo Sangai fest appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

IMPHAL, Nov 20: More than 50-cyclist of Manipur Cycle Club will ride around the greater Imphal areas to promote and campaign for Manipur Sangai fest, 2012. The promotional campaign was flag- off by Tourism commissioner Dr Rajest Kumar and the deputy director, Tourism, Velintina Arambam was also present during the flag-off.

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The post State Awards for Literature appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

IMPHAL, Nov 20: Kshetri Bira was awarded the State Award for Literature for his novel ‘Nangbu Ngaibada’. The wining announcement was made by Education Minister today after the approval of the government to the proceeding of the advisory board of the Manipur State Award for Literature, said by a release.

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The post TET candidates disappointed on exam announcement appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

From Alex Guite
LAMKA, November 20: Many of the candidates of TET exam from Churachandpur district are expressing their disappointments towards the state government authorities for declaring the TET exam dates lately. 

Though the issue seems minor to some, many feels that the late declaration of exam date will create a big problem for many candidates, fearing for repeat of last year incident where more than 1000 strong candidate missing out their exam unable to arrange transportation.

This year 6000 candidates will be sitting for the TET exam compared with 5000 candidates last year.

Last year the problem of transportation was further compounded by the problem for lodging arrangement.

The candidates also feel that the caste announcement has added more pressure to their preparation and that the sooner the announcement the better for the aspirants, as many will not be able to appear next year.  

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The post Quomi Ekta Week Observed appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

IMPHAL, Nov 20: The ‘observance of Welfare of Minority Day’ was held today at ABA Ground, Khetrigao. The functionwas jointly organised by department of MOBC & SC, Department of Youth Affair and Sports and Manipuri Minorities and OBC Economic Development Societies.

The said function was held today as a part of celebration of “Quomi Ekta Week-2012”. The function was attended by  Md Amin Shah, Parliamentary Secretary, MOBC and SC;  M Prithviraj, Parliamentary Secretary, YAS and Tourism; Md Salauding Khan, project officer  MOBEDS as chief guest, president and guest of honour.

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The post ATSUM assembly resolve with five points appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

IMPHAL, November 20: The 1st General Assembly of All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur held today here at Hotel Tampha.

Spokesperson of ATSUM, Majabung Gangmei, speaking to media persons, said that the assembly has adopted a five point resolution keeping in mind with the issues faced by the tribal students.

The resolutions are, the house decided to pressurize the government for setting up of State Tribal Commission at the earliest; the house resolved to put pressure on the government for setting up of B Ed Centres in the hill districts; the house agreed to look into the various issues involving the IGNTU; the house resolved to pressurize the government for adequate teaching staffs and proper infrastructure in educational institutions; the house resolved to protect indigenous tribal land and natural resource and that free, prior and informed consent of United declaration right of Indigenous people (UNDRIP) should form the basis as relating to indigenous people, their land and resources.

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The post Land rights denied appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

Continuing with the debate of deprivation of rights of the tribals or the hill people in the state of Manipur, we would like to stress once again on the question of the rights of the individual with regard to land ownership in the hill areas of the state. This issue has been put on the backburner by both the state and various civil society groups. The issue of individual land ownership in the hills had long been delayed because of the negative approach of the state and the resistance in the name of customary laws. There is an urgent need today to revisit and re-examine whether the traditional laws and customary practices with regard to land ownership is democratic or not and whether the present land ownership system is helping in the sustainability of the land in question. Land is used for so many purposes, land and property rights have broad impact on people’s lives and livelihoods. Land and property rights are key for a life with dignity; they are the basis for entitlements which can ensure an adequate standard of living and economic independence and thus, personal freedom.

How do property rights contribute to better landuse and improved livelihoods? If farmers cannot rely on their property rights or that their use of the land its produce is temporary they will invest less and will try to extract the maximum value from the resource in a shorter period of time, not knowing how long they may hold the right. They will thus jeopardize the future productivity of the soil. In this way, insecurity of property rights directly affects the sustainability of the use of the resource, its productivity and eventually its value. The set of rights held by an individual enables that individual to make management decisions on how land or other assets will be used for his or her immediate needs and long-term sustainable investment. If a given property right is clear and secure, the person will be encouraged to invest in and improve the resource; land can be used as collateral for credit, which can increase the productivity and efficiency of its use, and can contribute to economic growth. Access to other productive resources such as water, irrigation systems and forest products is tied to land rights as well. Strong land and property rights are relevant for allowing people to live in dignity, access resources and credits they need to ensure their livelihoods, develop their capabilities and make choices necessary for the enjoyment of an adequate standard of living and other fundamental human rights.

The hill communities have their own system of land holding based on customary and traditional practices. Among the Naga groups despite the absence of patta system, there is definitely an ownership system at the community level and also at the individual level among the Nagas varying according to tradition. With regard to the Kuki-Chin-Mizo group of people, the chief is all in all. He is the supreme authority. He owns the entire land within his jurisdiction. There is neither clan land nor individual. He distributes land for cultivation and plot for dwelling house construction. The villagers dwell or toil at his pleasure. The Kuki chief has the authority to expel any villager from the village. The Kuki administration is feudal and the chief is the autocrat and a landlord. Such a practice had in time reduced the poor villagers to the status of some kind of tenants who paid certain fixed amount of paddy for tilling the land. And such, there is no individual land ownership system in the hills of Manipur which has resulted in the denial of life with dignity for the hill individuals while seriously affecting the fertility and land-use pattern among the tribals. The individual have been exploited or dispossessed of his democratic right in the name of traditional law or customary practices.

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The post What`s In A Name? there`s quite a lot, it seems appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

By Angomcha Bimol Akoijam

‘What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet’ so says Juliet in Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet. It is a statement of seeking, if I may say so, the ‘essence’ of ‘things’. And name doesn’t matter in that enterprise. However, there is an old Chinese saying, ‘The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.’ Here, the belief is that naming is a way of acknowledging a ‘thing’, which implicates an awareness of the essence of the ‘thing’ in question. Of course, which of the two comes first — the name or the essence — could very well become polemical and even lead us to solipsism. It’s quite possible that some might say that the issue is ‘theoretical’ or ‘academic’ and does not have whatsoever relevance for our ‘practical life’. But think of this, should ‘Manipur’ be called ‘Kangleipak’ or ‘India’ be called ‘Hindustan’ or should it be ‘Nagaland’ or ‘Nagalim’? Or for that matter, should it be ‘Kolkata’ for ‘Calcutta’ or ‘Trivandrum’ for Thiruvananthapuram or ‘Chennai’ for ‘Madras’ or ‘Bengaluru’ for ‘Bangalore’? These are issues that have, as we know, ‘practical’ implications. Indeed, it seems there is something about ‘name’ or ‘naming’.

Meitei Name: Personal Becomes Political

Even at a personal domain, such issues of name or naming do come up. I am aware of the fact that I have a name, a ‘Hindu’ or as some would say, ‘Mayang’ name. Strange as it seems, when I came under the influence of, for the want of a better expression, ‘Meitei Revivalism’, the name didn’t bother me much as such but the caste name ‘Singh’ was; I found it pretty problematic. Hence, I had substituted it by the expression ‘Angomcha’ while I was still in High School. Obviously, it’s a personal choice that smacks of a political tinge. Incidentally, I began to find my name (i.e., ‘Bimol’) ‘problematic’ when I went out of my home state for my further education. Given the then ‘jarring effect’ that the name seemed to produce vis-à-vis my ‘looks’ (or physical feature) amongst friends, both Indians and foreigners — a response that often came up with a curious question of ‘you Indian?’, I began to use a ‘western sounding name’, AB or Abbey (much before, perhaps, this thinge called ‘Abby Baby’ for the Big B became popular). In fact, I became so used to this name, some of my best friends still call me by that name, that I have this emotion which I don’t get when people call me ‘Bimol’ when they do so even today; I even use it when I write poems. In short, these experience of naming or name has lots to do with my personal experiences of my life as a person, as an individual as well as someone who belong to a collective etc. In that, name or naming is a personal act which is simultaneously deeply political.

The same issue struck me when I had to name my daughter. There has been a trend amongst new generations of parents from Manipur: they often choose a ‘traditional’ Manipuri name rather than those which is derived, say from Sanskrit or Hindi or ‘Western’ names. I have named her ‘Puyanu’ which is derived from two root words, ‘puya’ (i.e., ancient texts of Manipur) and ‘nu’ (for woman/female/girl). I called her so as I want her to remember her ‘roots’, even though she is born in Delhi (despite my intention and making plan for her arrival in Manipur). Puyanu, a lady who knows her moorings, ancestors and their ethos, that’s a name which is driven by a politically and culturally rooted personal decision. It will be an act of dishonesty if I do not say that this act, which many Manipuris of my generations share, is a personal act which is often a political act as well.

It is, to my understanding, a cultural shift as well. Of course, there is no one way in these shifts. For instance, it is not uncommon to see girls of younger generation of Meitei Bamons writing ‘Sharma’ rather than ‘Devi’. Or the influence of writing family surname (like I do, although for reasons of convenience and assertion of an identity) after the first name. But the fact is, generations of my grandfather and father would invariably choose a name which is what we call ‘Hindu’ or ‘Mayang’ name today. Thus, my father named me after a well-known filmmaker Bimal Roy (incidentally, he gave names to my two elder brothers with ‘western’ names after some well-known figures from Western History, which he used to teach as a college lecturer while I as well as my younger brother ‘Hindu’ names). Frankly, I have no issues with my name which my father gave me. In a sense, there is also a personal behind the political which makes one what one is in life. On the hindsight, I must confess that, whether it is rationalization or not, I do believe that what I am today has lots in synch with the significance of my father’s choice and the meaning that the name carries. I hope, my daughter does the same, and as psychological studies suggest, name does have an impact on one’s life.

Collective Origin of Self

Incidentally, while still in high school, I chose to change my name after reading a text, ‘Adungeigi Kangleipak Manipur Natte’ (The then Kangleipak is not Manipur) by Kangjia Gopal. I was in class eight then. In that, self has, as some psychologists and sociologists insist, a ‘social origin’. Incidentally, I even wrote my first article in media in early 1980s called ‘kangleipak amasung Kangleichagi Wakhallon sagatpa Fei’, which was published in a monthly called ‘Lanmei Thanbi’ (edited by tamo Sanabam Raghumani, if I remember correctly, first holder of Ph.D. in Law amongst the Manipuris; he did his Ph.D. from Kurukshetra University). It was a spirit that was deeply rooted in a collective experience of a time, even while, I believe, the expression might have nuances of a personal take on the issue of a public kind.

To think of it, nationalists in South Asia did insist that before the Westerners called ‘India’, this palce has been known as ‘Bharatvarsha’. It was a political act and many individual selves had been perceptibly shaped by the spirit of the times. Of course, that recovery (through ‘discovery’ or ‘invention’ of selves) might implicate a ‘loss of self’ as the non-modernist postcolonial writer Ashis Nandy has insisted. It can be true for our parts of the world as well, both for the individual and the collective. In short, there is a close connection between the individual and the collective.

In this sense, there is a need to sense one’s individuality vis-à-vis the collective, and the historicity of the reality within which the dynamics between the two has been shaped. That’s the foundation of one’s existence, an awareness that informs the ‘I’ and the ‘Collective’. If one is not aware of this dynamics, there is the possibility of ‘alienated individual’ who insists on the imperatives of talking about ‘we’ as a defense of her/his individual alienation, which can subvert both the individual and the collective. In short, self awareness demands a sense of the historicity of one’s ‘being-in-the-world’. And, a revolutionary shift from the ‘class-in-itself’ to the ‘class-for-itself’ can only truly happens with such a consciousness of a self.

Indeed, knowledge that is not tested or thought through one’s own experience as a ‘self’ within the matrix of its ‘social origin’ is bound to be derivative and shallow. I hope my daughter remembers this for I know her generation, where ever they are, and their acts will have lots to do with the way they grapple with the facts of what Manipur has been and what it will be in their times and afterwards. Naming is, in that sense, an act of seeking an essence to be ‘pursued’ and ‘created’. And one of the essences should be to seek a life with dignity and well-being. 

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The post RIP appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

By Ananya S Guha
I can understand the late Bal Thackeray having a large following in Mumbai and the rest of  the country including of course political parties like the BJP. I can also understand his unstinted support for a country based on a premise of religious ideology. Many believe in it. I or many others may not support it, but it is at least based on the notion of one country, although with more than pronounced rightist slant. Still, I will not quarrel, or quibble, as at least the notion of a country is upheld, although obviously it runs counter to the principles of secularism, which is upheld by the sacrosanct ideals of a Constitution. But who cares, we always had and will continue to have iconoclasts. So fair enough to the late Mr Thackeray.

But what I fail to understand is why there should be anger after his demise, this had been apprehended as harped upon by our inimitable national media? Why should there be lawlessness after a natural death? What kind of a brute strength of power is this? Why should there be lawlessness after his death? On what principles of  `cracy` were his party founded? Surely not mobocracy? Would not his followers chosen a path of tribute or respect? But apparently based on some reports the city of Mumbai experienced not so pleasant sights. If a leader exudes more fear than respect, then there is something abjectly wrong with both followers and followed.

Secondly a glance at his life shows that he led movements against Gujaratis, South Indians, North Indians and recently supported the anti Bihari stance taken up by die hards of populism in his state. This is the problem I have. How can one person uphold the concept of a nation or rashtra, and at the same time speak on behalf of a separate Marathi identity, based on animosity against particular identities? This is  all garbled and certainly not the work of a rationalist. Which then is more important: the Hindu nation, or the nation state of a particular region of the country? This is to me is thinking, which is confounded, and not in consonance with the concept of  an Indian identity. So it is all the more intriguing why he got the support of national organizations, or political parties. And, then we blame the people of North East India of being anti Indian, when people who matter, in the heartland of the country, in India`s most industrialized belt fire tongs and hammer against the disputatious mainland?

Power even political power does not come out of the barrels of a gun or on flimsy and specious grounds of hatred. There may be support, but this not exemplication of  any power.

I accept the support he had, but I do not think he had any power. Power cannot instigate fear, fear of reprisal of a leader`s death, which is not murder or an outcome of state repression and killing.

This is the angst of India, silent workers go totally unnoticed, relegated to anaemic obituary pieces, megalomaniacs go down in the annals of history, thanks to a vibrant but ostentatious media.

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