Politics in Manipur

“LIES” no matter how big or small always crack the foundation of “TRUST”. There were times when the candidates made false promised during election time and fooled the people to woes the voter. The moment they were elected they often forgot what they had promised to the people often led a live thinking that the […]

“LIES” no matter how big or small always crack the foundation of “TRUST”. There were times when the candidates made false promised during election time and fooled the people to woes the voter. The moment they were elected they often forgot what they had promised to the people often led a live thinking that the […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2017/01/politics-in-manipur/

Making the common people suffer Politics of eco blockade

It is more than obvious. On record any economic blockade is invariably against the decision or agenda of the State Government but in reality it is the people who suffer. The ongoing economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council since midnight of October 31 is not an exception. So while the blockade is against […]

It is more than obvious. On record any economic blockade is invariably against the decision or agenda of the State Government but in reality it is the people who suffer. The ongoing economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council since midnight of October 31 is not an exception. So while the blockade is against […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2016/11/making-the-common-people-suffer-politics-of-eco-blockade/

End the blockade

The highway blockade must end, or else must be lifted whatever it takes, be it negotiations or legitimate use of state’s power to open up the highways. Since we are talking about national highways, the Union government must shoulder this responsibility too. We say this not so much in view of ameliorating the hardship of […]

The highway blockade must end, or else must be lifted whatever it takes, be it negotiations or legitimate use of state’s power to open up the highways. Since we are talking about national highways, the Union government must shoulder this responsibility too. We say this not so much in view of ameliorating the hardship of […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2016/11/end-the-blockade/

“No communal politics in MU”

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad volunteers and students of the Manipur University today demonstrated in front of the university main gate holding placards which demand “no communal politics in MU,” “No politics with students’ future,” “we want to study,” “total shut down is not the solution,” “student power, nation power,” “please let us study peacefully,” etc. […]

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad volunteers and students of the Manipur University today demonstrated in front of the university main gate holding placards which demand “no communal politics in MU,” “No politics with students’ future,” “we want to study,” “total shut down is not the solution,” “student power, nation power,” “please let us study peacefully,” etc. […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2016/10/no-communal-politics-in-mu/

The politics of toilet styles and cleanliness

By Garga Chatterjee  I was in a conference on visual perception in Barcelona recently, when I encountered a problem I haven’t had in a very long time. Where I was staying, the latrine room had a commode, a toilet paper roll but no other external water source. I am a Bengali, born and brought up […]

By Garga Chatterjee  I was in a conference on visual perception in Barcelona recently, when I encountered a problem I haven’t had in a very long time. Where I was staying, the latrine room had a commode, a toilet paper roll but no other external water source. I am a Bengali, born and brought up […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2016/10/the-politics-of-toilet-styles-and-cleanliness/

Political Maneuvers

The recent witness of politicians severing ties with their own parties and joining other political parties ahead of the much-anticipated 11th State Assembly Election likely to be held in February is not surprising. Politics as a whole is unpredictable so are politicians. Literally, politics is the process of making decisions applying to all members of […]

The recent witness of politicians severing ties with their own parties and joining other political parties ahead of the much-anticipated 11th State Assembly Election likely to be held in February is not surprising. Politics as a whole is unpredictable so are politicians. Literally, politics is the process of making decisions applying to all members of […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2016/09/political-maneuvers/

The Fate of a Sentimental Patriot – A critique of the play ‘The Rebel Unsung’

A critique of the play ‘The Rebel Unsung’ By M C Arun Name of the play: Shakkhangkhridaba Lanmee (The Rebel Unsung) Playwright: Arambam Somorendra Last played by Banian Repertory Theatre,… Read more »

A critique of the play ‘The Rebel Unsung’ By M C Arun Name of the play: Shakkhangkhridaba Lanmee (The Rebel Unsung) Playwright: Arambam Somorendra Last played by Banian Repertory Theatre,… Read more »

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/06/the-fate-of-a-sentimental-patriot/

TEN ISSUES/QUESTIONS TO UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE POLITICAL PREMISE OF AFSPA


  To insist that one must address and understand “Political Premise” of AFSPA is to… more »


 

To insist that one must address and understand “Political Premise” of AFSPA is to insist that we must fundamentally know/address the following issues:

  1. “Law” is a juridico-political fact, thereby meaning it has a political premise and that must be addressed (more so with Acts like AFSPA).
  2. Even if the protestors prefer to de-link the political premise of AFSPA, will the Government of India, with which the protestors are engaging with in order to repeal the Act, de-link what it thinks the Act is addressing while thinking about AFSPA?
  3. All legislations are to address some realities/phenomena in our real world. Acts on dowry, sati, child-marriage, for that matter the recent talk of Lok Pal, all are (about) legislations to address or fight realities of our life (the menace of dowry, sati, child-marriage or corruption). Therefore, the discussions or debates on these legislations are not carried out by de-linking these realities.
  4. What is that AFSPA is fundamentally seeking to address? (Isn’t this a question of policy/approach and politics that informed the policy/approach, a question that is inherently implicated and critical in understanding AFSPA?)
  5. AFSPA is supposed to address the “disturbed condition” caused by “armed rebellion” (“khutlaipaiba lalhouba”).
  6. Aren’t the powers given in the Act related to “armed rebellion”, powers (actvities) that are to be exercised/performed by the military personnel?
  7. Why is it then that the Supreme Court says the “disturbed condition” wherein AFSPA has been enforced is not due to “armed rebellion”? (Is this a “legal” or “political” question?)
  8. If it is about “law and order”, are those powers noted in the Act in line with what is expected of a “law and order” enforcing mechanism or engaging in “war”, including those that can be described as “low intensity” ones?
  9. More crucially, if the Act is not addressing a “disturbed condition” caused by “armed rebellion” (khutlapaiba lalhouba), and it is about “law and order”, why does the Government of India outlawed those rebels groups or charged the members of these groups in Court saying that they are “waging war” against the State?
  10. Are these questions matters of “theory” or (as many have a habit of saying often as a way of debunking or refusing any attempt at deepening understanding on an issue) “ground reality” or both?

 

To those who are protesting against the AFSPA:

 

(a) Narratives of human tragedy, of near and dear ones having been tortured, detained, killed or made disappeared by the state agencies under the Act, are facts. But are these narratives of human tragedies un-related to the above questions/issues?

 

(b) But when somebody (or in “we the people” kind of programme in TV channels) brings out similar narratives of human tragedies in the hands of non-state actors, does the issue of AFSPA get diluted or distracted precisely because your fight is based on a limited or narrow legal/human rights perspective that does not address basic questions pertaining to the Act as I have noted here (as well as elsewhere)?

 

(c) How do you intend to make the issue of AFSPA politically significant (amongst others, keep the question/issue no. 2 above in mind as well) when your own politicians and middle class can probably sense the human tragedy and say it’s bad but insurgents also do the same and so on.

 

(d) Granted that, one may agree or disagree with those who are “waging a war” against the Indian State, but the fact is, IT IS THERE as A PART OF OUR REALITY. So, which one makes more sense: Address something that has been there for decades and something that affects our lives with an honest acknowledgment of the reality of “rebellion” and realistically approach the issue or continue to deny or distort the reality (which, while the AFSPA is ostensibly dealing with a phenomenon of “waging war” against the State with arms–in short, “armed rebellion” at the same time legally/juridically denying it, as in Supreme Court Judgment of 1997) OR allow one to be guided by a mob mentality or lynching mindset saying that these “extortionists” blah blah must be “eliminated” (something that the mighty Indian State has been trying for more than 50 years with its military might under a “legal fiction” all this while without success and only to be admitted now and then that we must find a “political solution”!)?

 

Lastly, HOLLOW promise of a “yes, yes, AFSPA must go” by your politicians or those who feel the human tragedies under the violence of the Act but have a nagging question “what after AFSPA?” for there are these “naharols” (or insurgents), can never be addressed (or rather exposed) until and unless one brings in the above TEN questions/issues into the struggle against this notorious “legal fiction” that has created havoc in our life.

 

These are some of the concerns that I have in mind when I insist on “political issue/premise” of AFSPA that we must take care!
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Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/ten-issuesquestions-to-understand-the-significance-of-the-political-premise-of-afspa/

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.

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

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… Read more »

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

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

Time to look within and have some shame and self-respect

By: A. Bimol Akoijam To all those denizens of Manipur who are offended or hurt by the manner in which the “mainstream”, the “national media” and “politicians” at the “Centre”… Read more »

By: A. Bimol Akoijam

To all those denizens of Manipur who are offended or hurt by the manner in which the “mainstream”, the “national media” and “politicians” at the “Centre” have “neglected” or “marginalized” Sharmila’s fast…

BUT IS THE ISSUE FOR WHICH SHARMILA IS ON FAST A TANGIBLE POLITICAL ISSUE THAT DESERVES THEIR ATTENTION?

THINK ABOUT THIS: Only a few years back, one of your brothers burnt himself to death while some of your “Imas” (mothers) had stripped in public and yes, Sharmila has been on a fast for a decade now…”the people” in traditional attires (such as pungou faneks, feijoms and colourful ethnic dresses) and children in school uniforms formed human chains in protest against AFSPA…

BUT…

SOON AFTER THAT, “THE PEOPLE” VOTED BACK TO POWER A PARTY LED BY A MAN WHOM MANY SEEMINGLY HATE AND IRONICALLY ENVY AT THE SAME TIME – HAVEN’T YOU HEARD HOW PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THOSE RICH MEN…CONTRACTORS, HANGER-ONS OF POLITICIANS AND OFFICIALS IN POWER? —  OVERWHELMINGLY FOR NOT EVEN MENTIONING AFSPA IN HIS PARTY’S ELECTION MANIFESTOS!

INDEED, IS THE ISSUE FOR WHICH SHARMILA IS ON FAST A TANGIBLE POLITICAL ISSUE FOR THE PEOPLE OF MANIPUR?

OH YES, ELECTIONS ARE ROUND THE CORNER

I AM SURE EVEN THE PIMPS AND PROSTITUTES KNOW WHAT AFFECTS THEIR SENSE OF DIGNITY AND WILL FIGHT FOR THEIR SELF-RESPECT AND WELL-BEING, DESPITE THE PREJUDICES AGAINST THEM…

I HOPE THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE IN “THEORY” BUT KNOW THE  “GROUND REALITY”  AND ALWAYS DO   “ACTIONS”,  A RESULT OF WHICH IS WHAT WE SEE AS MANIPUR AS IT STANDS TODAY ALSO KNOW THE SAME!

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Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/08/time-to-look-within-and-have-some-shame-and-self-respect/

Situating the Koms (Komrem) Narrative in Manipur

By: Alex Akhup Abstract This paper is an attempt to evolve an analytical frame of understanding identity and ethnicity in the ‘northeast region’. Positioned from an emic perspective, the article… Read more »

By: Alex Akhup

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to evolve an analytical frame of understanding identity and ethnicity in the ‘northeast region’. Positioned from an emic perspective, the article conceptualizes the reality of the Komrem tribes of Manipur vis-à-vis their identity and ethnicity. Manipur is one of the States in ‘northeast region’, with a high degree of cultural diversity. A number of ethnic groups reside in the region giving rise to a unique ethnic socio-political environment rarely witnessed in any other parts of the country. Ethnic Identity political processes become a prominent mobilization strategy for ethnic groups to negotiate for space within a democratic frame. This process manifests itself in self-determination movements expressed in the forms of ‘proto-nationalism’ and ‘infra-nationalism’ vividly observable among tribes in Manipur.

Mr. Alex Akhup is Assistant Professor, Centre for Social Justice and Governance, School of Social Work in the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. His areas of interest are identity, ethnicity and northeast studies.

Introduction

The ‘Spirit of Northeast’ within the domain of identity is an experience and a celebration of multiple realities, a co-existence of many nations and ethnic groups within specific boundaries of the eight States . The process of Identity and ethnicity is multidimensional and dynamic, requiring problematization at various levels and drawing connections from particular to universal. It arises as a consequence of multi-cultural or multi-people realities which are closely related to the social structure and larger socio-political environment. There are various situations leading to identity and ethnicity which generates dynamic interactions of specific socio-ethnic structures located in a particular geopolitical milieu of State , districts, nations and frontier region, and also in the broader context of hegemonic capitalist globalization. This, as argued by Burman (Burman in Bhadra, 2007, p.11) has had profound impact on the struggle of world democratic forces.

If one looks at the process in totality, there is broad framework of analysis which is required to understand the context objectively. The ‘northeast’ region is culturally and politically distinct from the rest of India because of its multiple ethnic characteristics. This distinction or the difference marks the specific ethnic context which is in constant dynamic process of interaction with external environment; social, economic and political circumstances. This dynamic process is expressed in varied forms of culture drawing an understanding within a framework of boundary definition, extension and resilience (Barth, 1970). There is a tension in the process of self identification (Jenkins, 1997) and change processes.

Analysis Frame

Identity from the perspective of ethnicity is very often considered as basic ‘givens’ of an identity in social science. This understanding has very often confined the conceptualization along exclusivist approach within primordial school of thought (refer Geertz, 1973), as also seen in ethnonalism processes achored along the colonial constructs in the region. However, Barth regards ethnicity more as a product of interaction, rather than reflecting essential qualities inherent to human groups. Barth’s conceptualization is a major shift from cultural specific studies to a movement focusing on interaction of boundaries. This conceptualization has brought in a shift of paradigm in the understanding of ethnicity and given the concept a political dimension (refers Glazer and Moynihan, 1970, Phadnis, 1989, Doshi, 1990, and Cohen, 1996). Here, there is shift from ‘culture as given’ to ‘permeability of boundary’, ‘ethnic identity as idiosyncratic characteristic’ to ‘ethnicity as political processes’, a circumstantial product and/or instrument.

Identity Process in Manipur – Context and Frame

Manipur is consistently and constantly in the limelight, because of its highly intricate and complex political reality. This vibrant political reality exerts immense pressure on processes of identity formation of various distinct cultural groups in the State which manifests in observable symptoms of assertion and resistance across ethnic groups. The geopolitical reality of the state has had an important bearing on political and social identity configuration. The relationship that exists between state politics, its territorial space and population distribution , defines power and positions, and shape identity of various societies, people and communities.

The state-society consists of differential ethnic groups (arround 36 in number) which have been referred as ‘ethnic groups’ by recent scholars (refer Zehol, 1998). These ethnic groups have a distinct history and culture. The distinctiveness of an ethnic group penetrates down to the village community. These villages have a long history of contact and co-existence with the plain culture under the Meitei Kings . The present political consciousness of tribes or ethnic groups in Manipur is largely an outcome of modern political and social processes generated through the nation-state frame and concomitant system of electoral politics.

The hill areas, constituting five hill districts, are inhabited by ethnic groups categorized as ‘Scheduled Tribes’. Due to the diversity of social structure between tribes expressed in culture and region, politico-administrative categorization hardly permits a common consensual socio-political platform for negotiation. The tribes would rather prefer to be identified by specific cultural and political entities which influence the processes of identity in State. Therefore, ‘tribe’, as political identity and political process is exogenous and thereby very negligible consciousness about the term in the area and perhaps remains only at the level of welfare policies of politico-administrative term used for Government. In the present state of affairs in the State of Manipur, there is no single operational tribal specific policy except for skewed and highly disparate system of political representation in the State.

British administrative agents were the first who made attempts to classify the collective identities in Manipur within linguistic criteria and a politico-administrative frame. Today these exogenous categorizations determines a considerably the forces of identity and ethnicity process. They are being tested at the consciousness level of the people in the present social and political environment. These processes of categorizations have often misperceived and subverted the articulations of a perspective ‘from within’ the community, and are at times operationally coercive, as is seen in case of ‘old kuki’ (Shakespear, 1909, 1912). People rarely identify themselves by such categorizations and in fact it has become detrimental to preservation and creation of cultural and political space for numerically fewer tribes.

The contribution of Christianity to education and development towards an articulation of culturo-political identity especially in the context of tribes has been very significant. This process have enhanced, re-enforced and augmented identity boundary within a ‘Barthian’ frame. Collective identities have become better adept to face other cultures and global forces and negotiate with state systems proactively. Had it not been for Christianity, education and development for multiple ethnic groups in the region would have been significantly different from what is being observed presently. In fact the smaller communities would have been in a critical position as regards their culture and political entity.

The various articulation of self determination of ethnic groups in the State is a socio-political phenomenon of negotiation between ‘culturally indigenous tribes’ . Here, self determination process ‘within the State’ is comparatively different from self determination from ‘without’. The former negotiates within the democratic frame of the country and latter refers to a ‘demand for independent Sovereign State’. The articulation comes from definite experience of common shared culture and history which according to Burman (Burman in Kabui, 1985) are processes of ‘infra-nationalism’ and ‘proto-nationalism’ referring to twin processes of ‘spontaneous internal self identification’ and ‘self identification inspired by educated leaders of the community’. In these processes boundary of common shared culture is defined and intensified by territory and language. They are defined as ‘nationalities’ (B.K. Roy Burman ). ‘Nationalities’ as argued by Burman is understood as having a common or shared cultural identity but not necessarily implicating a demand for an independent sovereign State. They are perceived and also referred to as being ‘ethnically marginalized’ (Oommen, 1997). But one thing is obvious, embedded culturo-political elements forming the core of distinct entities, spread across territorial boundaries explicitly indicates that modern state and nation is not co-terminus in the context of northeast. Therefore formulation of collective identity has to be situated in the context of state and multiple collective identities.

Identity and ethnicity processes in Manipur is complex and challenging yet opens up to a unique and significant opportunity for conceptualizing culture, identity and ethnicity within a volatile political environment. The State is a conglomeration of ‘culturally embedded communities’ (Biswas, 2000) which have distinct boundaries, yet having a mutual relatively inclusive social fabric within the co-existence frame. The existence of multiplicity of ethnic identity in the State represents a microcosm of the larger ‘northeast’ reality from the perspective of a numerically less significant and yet culturally, and politically distinct entities which many a time has not been perceived as significant, consciously or unconsciously within the current policy, politics and academic discourse. In fact the mainstream or dominant discourse on ethnic groups have largely been from the perspective of numerically larger and politically well placed ethnic groups in the State. Therefore the state of ‘non-recognition’ of such entities is often in a disempowered position and thus appropriated by dominant group discourse within the frame of electoral democracy. The strength of discourse or policy of the state on ethnic groups in a democratic system lies on how it handles the space of numerically lesser tribes, which are equally critical for the functioning of a well meaning democratic system.

A Khurpui (Komrem) Narrative

The cultural and historical experience of identity and ethnicity among the tribes of Komrem community exemplify an endogenous self-identification as an ethnic group. The community defines and redefines itself consistently to be able to maintain and adapt its cultural and political reality in the context of the emerging cultural and political environment.

The community proactively defines itself as ‘Komrem’; the ersthwhile ‘composite culturo-political entity’ consisting of the six kindred ethnic groups constitutionally categorized as Aimol, Kom, Kharam, Chiru, Purum and Koireng (also listed in Kom, 1990) in Manipur. However, as response to the emerging socio political context of the state, the Komrem people social organization has given birth to other kindred tribe specific independent social organizations in the recent times. Infact, as it stands today, Komrem as socio-religious or political collective entity confines itself pridominantly to the Kom speaking kindred group. However, the shared cultural and historical experiences of these kindred group is intrinsically connected and extends far into the prehistoric times, usually termed as ‘Khurpui narrative’, origin narrative. The narrative usually sung among all these kindred as:

Kan hongsuk e kan hongsuk, e Khurpui e kan hongsuk e
Khurpui akhan hongsuk e
Thingkalat lhongkatet mhorang e
Heiya he heiya he ya
Heiya he heiya he yo

Koms (collectively) identity self ascription, Kakom inchangna, is derived from this song of history. It is the basic foundation on which community ethnonym, Kakom or Kom got constructed.
Kan hongsuk e kan hongsuk e Khurpui e kahong suk e
Heiya he heiya he
Kan honsuk e kan hongsuk e
Khurpui a kan hongsuk e
KanKom luin abong heiye
KaKom kachang ung a

The history of Komrem ethnicity processes dates back to 1927 under a nomenclature of Sadar Hills Kom Union which was initiated to define and re-enforce a common identity based on cultural and historical experiences. In the post independence era the Union resurrected with a new nomenclature ‘Komrem’; conceptually a configuration of endogenous and exogenous terminology. ‘Kom’ basically is a Meitei word, a derivative of ‘Khurpui’, a kom terminology of the origin theory. ‘Rem’ as in ‘Komrem’ refers to ‘people’. Therefore, Komrems (Koms) identify as ‘Khurmi’s. However, ‘Komrem’ as an ethnonym was given birth during the initial stage of the socio religious movement as commonly accepted nomenclature for peoplehood and mobilization in the context and process of history and has found space in the consciousness of the community and other ethnic groups in the State. The Komrem historical reality implicitly and explicitly is premised on the frame of harmony, co-existence and mutual interactions within the State-community.

An observation of Komrem Identity process reflects that Identity is multidimensional and is closely linked to culture which has its own dynamics and exerts its own political status. For example, documentation of Kom culture by Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA), in collaboration with state institutions and Kom Cultural Society of Khoirentak Village Society is unique and occupies prominent place in defining cultural identity of Kom tribe (Purvottari, 2009). Religion has also emerged as an important factor of identity re-enforcement and change. Infact, Komrem community today is basically Christian in religion. There is direct and mutual interaction between religion and culture of the people which continuously define and redefine the identity of Komrem from ‘socio-religious perspective’ anchored through Kemrem Baptist Church Association (KRBCA) and the Komrem Union (KRU). The role of these emerging institutions in Komrem identity and peoplehood consciousness and organization is prominent. Education and development of Komrem community is definitely a direct contribution of Christianity which has augmented the cultural and political identity of the people.

In the historical and cultural reality of the Komrem community, Identity is more a means towards social and political empowerment. It is a strategy or organization which could be defined as ethnicity, ethnicity understood as political identity assertion within the context of inter-power relations between communities and also between the communities and the State. ‘Komrem Identity’ is therefore basically a political identity. It emerged in 1927 and got further re-enforced in context of asserting better political participation particularly in the then Autonomous District Councils of the state (Kom, 1990) and various other emerging internal and external social and political circumstances that constitute the environment of the community.

Komrem tribes occupy an important geopolitical standpoint in the socio-political and economic cycle of the State of Manipur as one of the indigenous tribes. The political space of their identity remains resilient even in the midst of majority-minority identity politics in the time when larger cultural political identity process become not only a mere pro-active self identification but forceful categorization, or co-option by the larger identity politics. There is, as observed by Burman (Kabui, 1985 and Kamkhenthang, 1988), constant defining and redefining of numerically fewer tribes manifested through oscillation of identity on political consideration. In such reality, ‘Komrem’ identity has been a strategy of cultural and political assertion within the politics of coercive categorization which has resisted and negotiated with the politics of categorization as was observed in the ‘neutral stance’ taken by the community during the ethnic conflict in the 1990s. The community has always demonstrated a cultural and political ability to negotiate in relation to the politics of its immediate larger ethnic group within the paradigm of ‘co-existence’ and ‘peaceful living’ .

Concluding Analysis; A Komrem Perspective

The change processes is all pervasive with inherent tension of interface between emic and etic processes within the socio-politico reality. Identity is thus best understood within the frame of change and recreation, which is greatly influenced by processes of identity politics (especially played along the colonial construct of Naga, Kuki or Meitei dialectics) that at times spirals into acts of hostility as often witnessed in Manipur. The process of political assertion based on identity has tremendous political and social impact on distinct identities of the varied ethnic groups. The impact of the processes related to the interplay of identity politics is felt much more by numerically fewer communities who are also geographically sparsely populated and spread out across revenue districts. Within this reality, the principle of coexistence reveals itself as the determining law of both state and community in which ethnic life worlds (Biswas, 2006), inter and intra community relationships and rational socio-legal governance structure of the state must be premised. This formulation furthers the importance of understanding co-existence as an organic trajectory of the peaceful existence and relationships of all collective identities. Existence and co-existence of every collective identity requires mutual understanding and respect of spatial needs, human security and social development of entwined communities within the socio-legal democratic set up. All are equally important as units of society. It is an issue of grave concern that the status of ‘invisibility’ of culturally indigenous tribes who are numerically fewer in number, are often ‘notionally non-existent’ within the realm of the consciousness of both state and dominant ethnic groups. A democratic system that facilitates, provides and promote a responsive public space for a respectful articulation of voices of the ‘invisibles’ within the public sphere is imperative. The author firmly opines and envisions that the argument articulated in this paper will find a critical space in the emerging political and reality discourse of the northeast region.

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