Tag: Readers Letter/E-mail

Mr. M.Okendro, Honorable Minister of Education; and Department of Education Govt. of Manipur, India.   Dear Sir, We are group of educators living and working abroad. We compare the education

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/12/open-letter-to-okendro-minister-of-education-and-to-the-department-of-education-of-manipur/

Handak laakkadouriba Jiribam Municipal Election asida karigumba wahei khara thamjaningi, maramdi jiri lamdam yamna pikpa lamdamni madugi mathakta municipal area manungda leiriba ward no.1 to ward no.10 asida mioi lising phaoba youdaba ward sing aduda political involve touringei mapham adu development oiroi haiba se praja singna khanthabiyu. Maramdi mana congress ni mana BJP ni haina khannarigneida tougadaba thabak sing da matam yamna maanghalli, ei isa congress political imungda pokcharabasu leikaigi thabak thouramda political haiba wakhan da leite aduna maram oina ei isamak laakliba Municipal Election lepke khalli maramdi eina khangjaba heijaba ahansingi paotaak mayamdagi taraga vote lepke haibagi wakhal adu pokkhi. Amaromda pikkhraba election aduda peisa thadaraga leppakpa candidate aduna keidounung da leikai gi development purakkani haiba wakhal thadokpiyu maram di mahakna thadakhiba senpham adu hanjannaba hotnabada yamdraba chahi ani (2 years) changgani adu oi taradi peisa hanjannaba hotnabada leikai gi awatpa amadi sarkarna thadakrakpa Scheme sing adu mapum phana touroi haiba soidrabani. Manipur Government gi side tagi candidate masa na tanadragasu, masana laakadouba leiraba Scheme mayam, for example, cheng dealer, kerosene amadi guwa (water well) hairiba sing asi masana laakchagadabani, maduda hairiba Scheme sing aduda wakhal thadaduna dealer kanada pisige kanada piroisige haina khallaga neinaringeida aduga chahi ani (2years) amuk peisa hanjannaba hotnabada leihouriba chahi ama (1 year) gi tellaba matam aduda karino leikai sigi development tourakkani haiba si thajaba watli.

Municipal Election asigi matang da eina haijaningbadi 5 years terms thabak yamna touba yai. Eina gyan tarakpada pikkhraba election asida political leader singna magi magi party ticket piduna lepphanba thengnajare, matam aduda leiriba phibam houjiksu hongdri. Aduna Municipal Election da political involve toubiganu haijaningi maramdi leikaida leiriba ahal-laman, ema-eben sing ga tanaraga leikai sida kari touraga phagani haiba wapham asi thamjaningi. Political involve tourakpaduna leikai gi appam pamdaba sing adu Vote karakpa candidate aduna leikai da leiriba miyam sing adugi awaba wari tabidana mahakpu thagatlakpa Political Leader adugi wa taraga leiba candidate aduda leikaiduda political party adugi mioi natte haiduna karigumba loan gi matang oiro dealer gi matang oiro leikai dudagi mioi aduna wanomjaba sing adu gi wahei ama phaoba tabidaba asi gumba mayam asina kari chaokhat pa purakkani. Aduna mayamda thamjaningba wahei di handak laakkadouriba election asida polical involve toubidanaba leikaida leiriba ahal-laman singga tanaraga kamaina political changdanaba hotnabiyu haijaningi. Amana candidate singna peisa piraga vote thadabiyu hairasu loubiganu, maramdi peisa phangliba voters aduna tungda awaba taraba kanda karigumba mateng ama pangbiyu haibada mateng phanglaroi haiba si thajabiyu. Mateng pangdragasu candidate adugi wakhalda kari oina khallamgani haiba eina khangjaba khara haijage, candidate aduna vote leppa matam da pirakliba senpham adu na maram oiraga iswar naphao warakpa ngamloi, maramdi election matamda pikhiba senpham sing aduna makhoi makhoi gi phanggadaba haq (right) candidate na leikhrabani aduna nakhoi mayam na iswar da candidate phate haiduna iswar da haijarabasu madugi paap candidate na oiroi maramdi peisa piba matamda mahakki wakhalda nakhoi se mana leirabani, adunani peisa loubagi chatnabi hek thadokpa matam aduda praja singgi achouba right lei haiba Indian Constitution na makhal makhal gi Act amasung Law thamli. Aduna houjik eikhoi gyan tamminaba matam oire, leikai chaokhat khongthang singgi khallaga mamal leiraba vote khantharaga thadabiyu haina eigi mot mayam da phongdokchari.

Election da karaba mioi aduda mayam changduna haibiyu cheng, thao amadi guwa (water well) na chingba masana laakkadaba leirabanina laaklaba kanda leikai adugi ahal-laman tanaraga mayam na yabadu oihanbiyu, aduna maram oiraga matam maanghanbiganu. Adugi mahutta leikai da kari kari touba yaba sing khanba fei.

Eigi wakhaldadi,

1. Leikai singi ahallaman singi punpham makhoi singgi paotak loubiyu.
2. Leikaida lairik leiba ngamdaba mamanabadagi wairaga tamba satra kaya leiri aduna leikaida Pre-nursery dagi houraga 12^th Standard phaobagi library hangbiba.
3. Labuk ta double cropping thaba yanaba water irrigation thamnaba hotnaba amadi leikai sida kari kari touba yaba sing tanaraga sarkar da proposal thagatpa.

Karakliba candidate adugi matamda phangba ngamdragasu mathang term da laakkadaba candidate aduna amuk remind touraga phangnaba hotnaba yabagi proposal thagatpa yamna maru oi, for example, Manipur da ILP chatnahallu haiba chahi kaya kaya gi mamangda leibiramba ahalsing amadi ema kayana leibaakki khallaga thangatlamba proposal aduni, matam kuirabagi tungda houjik ta ILP issue asi phangdaba yade haiduna ehou hourakliba sing asina taakpadi eikhoina thagatkadaba candidate aduna chaokhat pagi mami oirabasu proposal thagatpiramba tungda laakkadaba sing adugi khallaga toubiba haiba asi eigi mot ni. Masida aranba asoiba yaoragasu nacha-nanaoni khallaga ngakpiyu haina miyam da thamjari.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/10/voting-right-amasung-asengba-leader-masak-khangminnasi/

Letter to Editor

Today I arrived from Delhi. I do firmly support ILP however on my way back home some youth blocked my way and started abusing me. The general strike was called all of sudden. So I had to go home but these certain youth used vulgarity.I told them that I am a Manager for SBI and showed them my boarding pass too. However one boy aged around 17 years didn’t consider and treated us very badly. I didn’t respond him. He has no respect for the senior and also if they behave in such a way I don’t think we are heading in the right direction. I felt like smashing him to death but maybe he was high in drugs. If we have to make our demand works these kind of morally torture to public
must stop else there wont be no unity. so my advice to these youth is to behave well and be disciplined so that we become one.

The above article was sent to KO by Sameer on Aug 16, 2015. He can be contacted at tomhuda(at)gmail(dot)com

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/08/comment-on-general-strike/

By Dr Longjam Robindro

Once again our State Manipur is in a long heated turbulence with continual strikes, hate-speeches in assembly and public spheres, curfews, etc. because of the debate on whether the ILPS should be imposed in Manipur or not.

Now, Certainly the State is in dire need of “a real leader/politician” with vision, that will lead this debate in a constructive and objective manner; A leader that will immediately react to any sign of instability in the state, especially in a state where prejudice, ignorance, anger and hatred seemed to had fed most “debates”; A leader that is more concerned about the well-being of all of the people that constitutes this State, rather than for his personal growth and well-being; A leader that can lead, communicate, express and inspires hope with a vision of a united state; Finally a leader with integrity, maturity of mind, and intellect; A true leader that we are proud to follow.

But at the present scenario, I believe that our current political leadership is totally incapable and inefficient to deal with the real issues of ILPS. Hopefully that kinda leader would positively surface very soon out-of-the-shadows.

(Dr Longjam Robindro Singh can be reached at director@lrsindia.in)

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/07/the-final-bell-of-a-true-leadership/

Pu Phungjathang Tonsing Elected INC candidate, truly deserves the post of Deputy Chief Ministership for the following reasons;

1.     By virtue of being  the  senior-most amongst contenders in Political arena who have been elected 6 consecutive times in the State Legislature Assembly
2.     Never in the Manipur history witnessed 9 Kuki MLAs, representing a single party INC. In other words all Kukis are in support of Congress (I) Govt.
3.     Manipur  completed 10th Assembly Election in 2012, till the last Govt. there had  never been any Kuki representative holding the highest berth as CM, not even a deputy. Because till the 9th Manipur Legislative Assembly only  Meiteis and Nagas are given  the top position continuously.
4.     If INC manifestos stands true for peaceful co-existence and equality amongst its citizens & leadership, they should never let this opportunity pass in vain  against Shri Phungzathang, the senior most among his colleagues.
5.     High Command authorities ought to remember the sacrificial contribution towards Indian Freedom movement led by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose ( INA) wherein thousands of  Kukis joined him and  fought for free India  till their last breath. Even today a handful INA pensioners are still alive in our midst  to bear living witness to the greatest contribution of our forefathers for our country in general and Manipur in particular [for Azaadi Hindustan]
6.     As a saying goes “Impossible is found only in the dictionary of fools” and  “All the worlds a stage..”
7.     It is our hope and fervent expectation from Indian rulers that they ought to realize their commitment  and sincerity to downtrodden  bonafide citizen without any biasness and discrimination.
8.     GOD Bless the newly form Govt. of Manipur.

M.S.Obedya Haokip
Imphal, Manipur
obedyahaokip (at) rediffmail.com

March 13, 2012

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/03/open-letter-in-support-of-pu-phungjathang-tonsing-for-the-post-of-deputy-chief-minister-manipur/

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/11/letter-to-honble-home-minister-of-india-about-pap-removal/

Sir,

The world has become a global village and with times every university has started encouraging young scholars to study the ways of our immediate neighbours or bring back the lost brothers, or anything related with our history and culture, to make this world a place better place to live. As I decided to go for my further studies, I sat myself before the Departmental Board for my final interview in the prestigious Bhamo University, Myanmar. By the grace of God I was selected and my guiding professor ask me to do a special research work in India.

Declining an offer from one of the best Universities of a country for the country and above all my earnest desire to be in a land where my grandfather belongs was time taking decision, as I will be facing a lots of criticism if I try to intrude into someone political situation where those targeted people were so convenient with the system by now. Yet I ponder myself to make my last call to say YES and go to the place where my grandfather belongs to but never returns. The land my fore-fathers have accepted thousands of years ago to rightfully claim as theirs. A land I have never seen but have always heard from my father & grandmother and read about thousand times from the paper, books, journals etc. but all through internet.

The little I knew about my grandfather from my grandmother and my villagers – A young soldier on a trip to China with a General called Mou, someone my grandmother has never seen but timelessly mentioned that he was a Godly figure to my grandfather and his troupes, they were ambushed by the heavily armed Burmese armies, many were killed, many injured, some gathered back and continue with their mission, yet many lost their way and my grandfather is among the last category. My grandfather could never return to his Home as his right leg was no more, but with times he met my grandmother, a widower, and made her home, a Home far away from Home. He found solace in my grandmother’s abode but unfortunately he succumbed to his long due injuries after the birth of my dad, Tukhemi Asah (named after a legendary spear maker, both Chin & Sema having the same pronunciation and storylines) & his sister, Avetoli Asah (Asah my grandmother’s clan), before he could completely learn Chin language to share his life journey, native place, near & dear ones, his reason for taking arms, and above all the real man as to who he is/was, but with him all his wonderful stories were taken away. Villagers always say that he was cheerful young chap with a King Midas touch in every work. Grandmother says that on one dark cloudy morning two badly injured men resurfaced from below the village pond, the older looking man was carrying the younger one on his back though he was more badly injured. Villagers gathered around them and gave them immediate shelter even thought they cannot communicate at all. And with times the young man condition gets better but sadly the older one, a man my grandfather always addresses as Sir, the man who was with my grandfather as a trainer, group leader, rescuer, carrier, doctor, everything in his hardest times passed away due to infection. Giving away his life selflessly for his promising junior who could not see the glorious moment of his nation.

I’m excited, as in few weeks times, I’ll be in the land I always dreamt off, looking for my grandfather families and his god-father’s families yet equally nervous as I doubt if I knew their real name and their real spelling. MUGHATO SEMA was my grandfather’s name and my grandfather savior’s name was POU, as pronounced by my villagers. Finding someone by just a name called Pou can be a big challenge, as I believed there is already a tribe name by that three syllable but I have a ray of hope because my grandmother always say that my grandfather always regarded Pou’s tribe to be the eldest & and the purest among all the Nagas and he happens to be the eldest son of a big village King. (And here, I honestly do not know what does it meant by the word PUREST but my grandmother always insist me to use the term in respect to my grandfather words.)

The word Naga and Nagaland has become something like a hallucination to me after I decided to critically examine the similarities between the Sema Naga tribe and the Chin of Myanmar. But first of all I need to trace the families of the two most important people of my life, who encouraged me to take up this big challenge where majority of the promising students would dare too even think off, for two reason:
1. Chin state of Myanmar and Nagaland state of India is very far away practically in all terms even though the distance between two is much nearer than our respective country capital. But I dare to as I need to know my roots.
2. Trying to bring back alive a history long forgotten is always faced by a strong criticism from every angle, when such a community is well established and settled conveniently with the neighboring community. But I dare to as I was brought up in a place strongly believed to be my ancestral land yet my immediate great-grandfathers have never seen it. But fortunately, fate gave me the privilege to let me be born & brought up in that wonderful land so now it is my responsibilities to bring a connection between the two land. And truth shall always reign.

My paper is to study the similarities between the Sema tribe and the Chin. There are thousands of similarities between the two tribes like – the culture, tradition, village administration, political reasoning, kingship, facial structure, dance & festivals, language phonetics, even names, and many more. According to the oral history as per the narrations and comparisons of many scholarly works of both the tribes, many Chin scholars and historian believes that Sema are the lost clan of the Chins. If it is wrong than let us reason out together and proof it as wrong, or if it is true at all than let us embraced the fact as it has nothing to do with our present political issues as we are far away and every human race has their own story to tell. And the bottom-line is – truth can be never hidden away.

Brief history of the Chin: The Tibeto-Burman Chin peoples entered the Chin Hills some time in the first millennium AD, as part of the wider migration of Tibeto-Burman peoples into the area. Some historians speculate that the ‘Thet’ people mentioned in the Burmese Chronicles might be the Chins. For much of history, sparsely populated Chin Hills was ruled by local chiefs. Political organization in the region prior to the Toungoo dynasty’s conquest in mid-16th century remains largely conjectural. The first recorded instance of a western kingdom believed to be near the Chin Hills is the Kingdom of Pateikkaya in the 11th and 12th centuries. Some historians (Arthur Phayre, Tun Nyein) put Pateikkaya in eastern Bengal, thus placing the entire Chin Hills under Pagan suzerainty but others like Harvey, citing stone inscriptions, put it near eastern Chin Hills. (Burmese Chronicles report the kings of Pateikkaya as Indian though the ethnicity of the subjects is not explicitly cited.)

The first confirmed political entity in the region was the Shan State of Kale (Kalay), founded by the Shan people who came to dominate the entire northwestern to eastern arc of Burma after the fall of Kingdom in 1287. Kale was a minor Shan state, and its authority did not extend more than its immediate surrounding area, no more than a small portion of northern Chin Hills. The minor state occasionally paid tribute to the larger Shan States of Mohnyin and Mogaung, and ultimately became a vassal state of Burmese Ava Kingdom in the 1370s. Starting in the 1480s, Ava began to disintegrate, and Kale was swallowed up by the Shan State of Mohnyin by the 1520s.

The entire Chin Hills came under the authority of Burmese kingdoms between 1555 and 1559 when King Bayinnaung of Toungoo Dynasty conquered all of Upper Burma and its surrounding regions—stretching from the eastern and northern Shan states to the western Chin Hills and Manipur followed by the king tyranny. During this era, Nikhoga Chief of Sumito Asah clan in the Chin hills revolted against the Shan ruler by grabbing the land of the royals and its officials (Sumito clan is believed to be present Sema Naga tribe of Nagaland), they were known for treachery worthless oaths, the angered King tried to killed all the Sumito Asah clan but they escaped with the help of the Lia clan. Lia was a big clan but the consequences for helping the Sumito clan to escaped from the wrath of the Shan king lead to mass killing of the Lia clan every year, asking the Lia to bring back the lost clan of the Chin so that he may give a befitting lesson but they could not, Sumito chief always says ok to his proposal but the truth is they have decided never to returned to its ancestral land fearing of the repercussion, after than they hide their real identity and assimilated with the people who pierce big hole in the ear and erect stone monoliths with pride in the north of the Manipuri Kingdom. While Nikhoga’s nephew, Simi’s wife Putheli got pregnant while hiding in the forest & some few groups stay back with them later known as Simi Asah got emerged with the small Tiighaki tribe a break-away clan of Lia. Now Lia are one of the smallest tribe in Myanmar and Sumitos were never heard off for almost 3 centuries.

Toungoo began to weaken in the late 17th century. By the 1730s, a resurgent Manipuri Kingdom had conquered the Kabaw Valley from the Burmese. Kabaw valley’s adjacent northern Chin Hills likely came under Manipuri suzerainty. Burma re-exerted control over the region in the 1750s as King Alaungpaya of Konbaung dynasty conquered Manipur in 1758 and made it a tributary to the Burmese kingdom once more. Konbaung kings conscripted many Chin levies (along with Hkamti Shans) to fight in their wars in Lower Burma, Siam, and Manipur. The Chin Hills were one western region the Burmese retained after the rest of their western possessions—Assam, Manipur, and Arakan—were ceded to the British after the First Anglo-Burmese War of 1824-1826. While returning from the war from the Ahoms kingdoms (present Assam), many Shan and Chin warrior spread a rumours among themself saying that they had encountered with their lost tribe Sumito but nobody dares to take the mater seriously as they were badly defeated in their expedition. After the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, the Konbaung throne’s authority in the remote regions was largely nominal, with the vassals paying nominal tribute and the British took over everything and after the political administrative change no one ever talks about Sumito again as they themselves are now under the yoke of the great empire.

Today, I’m geared up for the historic moment to come to Nagaland with the little knowledge I recollect from my granny stories, Internet and Naga Facebook friends about the land. I know it will be hard to convince people to accept my simple truth got through stories, similarities in culture and history, and after a critical analysis of hundred books. Here my point is – Are the present Sema Nagas the lost tribe of the Chin? Are Sema really a Nagas by blood or a Naga tribe in Nagaland because of its political-geography conveniences like the Kuki & the Dimasas? If they are really Nagas than why is their socio-cultural history & political conception totally different from the rest of the Nagas? They seem to be more similar to the CHIN (Burma). Chin is known by various names: Kukis in some part of NE India, Chakmas in Bangladesh & India, Mizos in India & Myanmar, Zomi in India & Myanmar, Borok in Twipra India, Siam in Thailand, Lia in Myanmar, Simi in Myanmar, etc. While the majority of the Nagas according to the books has similarities in a way or other but not the Semas? Sumitos were chased out from their ancestral land due to land disputes & the present Sema of Nagaland are still continuing, if I were to believe the daily newspaper on the net. Why is my grandfather calling his Superior Pou as Pure, who are they and where are they actually from? Who is General Mou, whom my grandfather regarded as the younger brother of Pou tribe? Why is there lots of similarities in folk-tales, even legendary names and proper noun between the Chin and Sema? Many people may even condemn me but no matter what the consequences is I’m still a Sema by blood, stepping into Nagaland to search my bloodline & if things work out well, the similarities my grandfather always told my grandmother will be proven true.

After all, I’m told that my grandfathers favourite dog was killed and lowered into the grave with him, which was the same last ritual for both the Chin and the Sema. Your valuable folk-tales, ideas, suggestions and criticism will be highly valued, either to prove me wrong or to help my dream realized through the thesis.

Lastly, any clue in helping me to meet my unknown relatives and my grandfather’s savior families will be forever indebted.

Thank you.

Yours Sincerely,
Mathew Ngaito Asah,
Ph.D research scholar,
Bhamo University, Myanmar
E-mail: mathewasah@yahoo.com.

07-Sep-2011

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/letter-of-greetings-to-all-the-nagas-from-forgotten-offspring/

Sir,

On Monday (Aug 29), there was a talk show of Akhil Gogoi in news channel News Time. A caller over the phone said to Akhil Gogoi that his Hindi was not up to the mark. To this, Gogoi said that he would try to improve. I would like to remind that language is not a barrier for leadership. Mamata Bannerjee speaks very bad Hindi, but when she speaks entire India listens. So many people speak good Hindi in north India. Have they become leaders?

DMK party chief and one of the topmost leaders in India Karunanidhi simply has no knowledge of Hindi. He speaks Tamil only and sometimes when in Delhi, he speaks English. We need leaders who carry our problems to the national level. When it comes to national level, since Hindi is not popular in South India, the English language is the best medium. The Tamils are never proud of fellow Tamilians who speak good Hindi.

Lalu Prasad Yadav speaks very poor English, but when he speaks the world listens. He went to give a lecture in management studies at the Harvard University when he was the Union railway minister. He spoke in English and in the areas where he was not sure, he carried an interoculator who transcripted his Hindi into English for the listeners. The best thing about the leaders from Bihar, Bengal and Tamil Nadu is that they speak. Whether they know Hindi or not is secondary. The most important thing is that their leaders are not bothered about good or bad Hindi. They just speak without any complex. Actually one should be ashamed when one cannot speak the mother-tongue. Foreign languages can be dealt with later on.

We don’t want pandits in Hindi language. We need leaders who speak for us, be it in any language. Even a dumb person can speak for the oppressed people using sign language if he has the conviction to do so. A leader is a leader. We don’t need a Hindi expert. We need a voice. That voice is Akhil Gogoi. The message is important, not the language.

Yours sincerely,
Dwipen Gohain,
Jyoti Nagar, Dibrugarh-786001.

06-Sep-2011

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/akhil-gogoi-don%E2%80%99t-bother-about-hindi-just-be-a-voice-for-us/