{"id":10232,"date":"2011-06-26T22:38:12","date_gmt":"2011-06-27T02:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kanglaonline.com\/?p=19870"},"modified":"2011-06-26T22:38:12","modified_gmt":"2011-06-27T02:38:12","slug":"a-meitei%e2%80%99s-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/2011\/06\/26\/a-meitei%e2%80%99s-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"A Meitei\u2019s Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <script type=\"text\/javascript\">var addthis_product='wpp-252';var addthis_options=\"Google+1\"<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/js\/250\/addthis_widget.js#pubid=kanglaonline\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p id=\"internal-source-marker_0.5797655706780347\" dir=\"ltr\">Dr Irengbam Mohendra Singh \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0June 10 2011<\/p>\n<p>Last  night I went to sleep in Bradford City. I dreamt about my mama and  green rice fields of Khurukhul, their tall blades fluttering in the  gentle breeze, giving the green grasshoppers<br \/> a free joyful rollercoaster ride.<\/p>\n<p>I  had a spendid dinner in the comfort zone of our house, cooked by my  wife who is a Cordon Bleu cook. I had Black label with soda while my  wife had Glenmorangie on the rocks.<\/p>\n<p>The  starter was cauliflower and white stilton soup and the main course was  cod fish wrapped in Parma ham, with roasted peppers, tomatoes and  aubergines. A glass of red wine \u2013 Sauvignon Blanc enhanced the  enjoyment. For dessert we had bread and butter pudding with rum and  prunes.<\/p>\n<p>I went to bed thinking of my childhood and growing up and career. In the mist and shadow of sleep I saw my native land, Manipur.<\/p>\n<p>I  swam in the dirty Nambul River in spate and dived in from the  suspension bridge connecting Uripok with Sagolband. I strolled and  played among the rows of tamarind trees along the dusty Uripok road. I  went with the Uripok scout Party led by Moirangthem Gojendra to the  Baruni Hill for the safety of boys and their girlfriends on the day  Baruni ching Kaba \u2013 annual pilgrimage to the Baruni hill of our  ancestors.<\/p>\n<p>I  heard the crow crowing at the break of dawn. I went to swim with  friends in the ponds at Lamphel Pat under the shadow of the Langol  Hills. I watched the cows grazing at Lamphel where sometime, I plucked a  rare purple Konbirei (Manipuri Iris)<\/p>\n<p>The  epic tale of pride and passion overwhelmed me with shouts of liberty. I  smiled at my tempestuous glee. But alas! I woke up in the middle of the  night and recollection at hand brought me to despair. It was the  political reality in Manipur.<\/p>\n<p>Events seem to be flashing by at a gallop rather than the gentle hand-canter of yore<\/p>\n<p>The  political reality is that liberty is not going to come to Manipur in  the foreseeable future and that the survival of our grand children  depend on nothing but the hideous hope that one day peace will prevail.<\/p>\n<p>In  the erstwhile sovereign state of Manipur human rights and individual  liberties were protected. But since India has forcibly annexed Manipur  there has always been a risk that Manipur would defend itself by armed  resistance, hurting its own people both in the short term and long term  while hoping that the world\u2019s \u201cpoliceman\u201d whether in the form of the USA  or the UN may arrive to sort things out.<\/p>\n<p>There  will always be a government in Delhi that will not let Manipur regain  its sovereignty and the government will function in the same way as the  one it replaced. Because there are procedures of running a democratic  government and they do not change.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;To  be governed is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed,  law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at,  controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by  creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to  do.\u201d \u00a0P.J.Proudhon.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span id=\"more-19870\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;No  government is ever in favour of freedom of the individual. It  invariably seeks to limit that freedom, if not by overt denial, then by  seeking to constantly widen its own functions. All<br \/> governments, of course, are against liberty&#8230;&#8221;&#8211;H.L. Menckenso.<\/p>\n<p>But  in Manipur there is an incremental feeling of loss of liberty by  incrementally eroding peoples\u2019 right to freedom because of the Delhi  Government and the dictates of the insurgents.<\/p>\n<p>Though  there is no country in the world where the people in it are equally  happy but in Manipur all the people are equally unhappy.<\/p>\n<p>For  Manipuris, the idea of an independent Manipur is an immensely noble  idea and is nobler for those insurgents who have been sacrificing theirs  and their families\u2019 life. Manipur is not like Kashmir that wants to  join Pakistan.<\/p>\n<p>As  life takes unexpected turns we don\u2019t always get what we hope for and a  meaningless hope comes to pick us up only to break us at the end.<\/p>\n<p>The  revolutionary movement or insurgencies began many decades ago. It is  not going forward, if not backwards. The leader of a major group UNLF,  RK Meghen is now in police custody. So is the leader of ULFA.<\/p>\n<p>There  is no revolutionary activity in Manipur. The agitation against the  AFSPA is now in cold storage as there are no seditious activities apart  from commercial activities like extortion, kidnapping and shooting of  innocents, as the remnants of insurgency in the failed state of Manipur.<\/p>\n<p>Still, New Delhi will not remove the AFSPA and is waiting for Irom Sharmila to succumb to her force feed.<\/p>\n<p>Everyday,  many insurgent cadres are arrested by the security forces and their  arms seized, decimating the already minuscule insurgent strength. The  Manipuris are in a state of inertia with no prospect of peace in sight.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody  in Manipur is safe and the education of school children is affected.  There are so many young widows with their children in abject misery. So  many grand projects remain unfinished because of corruption and  undergrounds\u2019 share of the funds.<\/p>\n<p>A  revolution (Latin revolutio, &#8220;a turn around&#8221;) is a fundamental change  that takes place in a relatively short period of time. Its use to refer  to political change dates from the scientific revolution occasioned by  Copernicus&#8217; famous De Revolutionbus Orbium Coelestium.<\/p>\n<p>Aristotle described two types of political revolution: 1. complete change from one constitution to another and 2. modification of an existing constitution.<\/p>\n<p>A  revolution does not mean it has to be violent. And it can\u2019t go on for  ever. There will come a time in every Manipuri\u2019s life when they get sick  of trying to go for a change.<\/p>\n<p>The  progress to civilisation in Manipur has been delayed year by year.  Restricted area permits discourage tourism in Manipur as well as  non-resident Manipuri Indians. Tourism is the only Industry which will  be viable for Manipur, giving employment to thousands.<\/p>\n<p>The  prevailing corruption and lawlessness in Manipur have shied away any  mayang investor in Manipur\u2019s economy while many qualified Manipuris seek  jobs in mayang India and abroad, adding to other various causes of  economic downturn in Manipur.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>The  question is how long will this political reality survive? In  revolutionary terms, how long the Meitei revolutionaries who have been  fighting for the independence of Manipur would go on while the civilian  population who are fed up to the back teeth, will continue to live under  the Indian military rule. Manipuris have no liberty unlike the rest of  Indians.<\/p>\n<p>Isn\u2019t  time for the revolutionaries to wear their hearts on the sleeves? Isn\u2019t  time for them to do some arithmetic and reassess the evolutionary  survival chances of all Manipuris? The revolutionaries may come and go,  while the public in Manipur remain in fear of when the next bullet is  coming for them.<\/p>\n<p>On  the Plebiscite front, shouldn\u2019t it be circumspect to find out its  feasibility or infeasibility before the GOI takes further police action.  Like all democratic methods, plebiscite requires<br \/> certain conditions for its successful operation. It has to be viewed from a background of<br \/> political, economical and psychological factors. Won\u2019t it be prudent to have a gallop poll of a<br \/> cross section of 1,000 people in the plain and another 500 in the hills to test the temperature?<\/p>\n<p>Likewise,  for the Manipuri Nagas who are clamouring for secession from Manipur,  isn\u2019t time for them to revaluate the chances of their succeeding? They  also can\u2019t go on for ever. It will only delay their economic progress.<\/p>\n<p>They  have now devolution with limited power to exercise over their own  welfare as a devolved sovereignty in an ethno-federated Manipur, though  it is intended to work at the level of adherence to governmental  institutions. \u00a0The combination of devolution and local sovereignty  preserves both majoritarian democracy and individual liberty. This  allows liberty to exist independently and simultaneously.<\/p>\n<p>As  independence or secession is not a commodity that one can buy, how long  will the people of Manipur wait in misery while the insurgents  themselves are sacrificing their lives in hiding? How long will the  Manipuri Naga people wait while their own people are living in abject  poverty?<\/p>\n<p>It has been many years since Meitei insurgencies began. Manipuri Naga secessionist activities<br \/> have taken much longer. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. There are only dark clouds on Manipur.<\/p>\n<p>An  insurgency can go on for decades as defeat is an unacceptable  dishonour. However, in the interest of insurgents and the Delhi regime  it can be brought to an end with an honourable compromise acceptable to  both sides.<\/p>\n<p>Lead kindly light amidst the encircling gloom. Lead thou me on. The night is dark and I am far from home. Lead thou me on.<\/p>\n<p>The writer is based in the UK<br \/> Email: <a href=\"mailto:imsingh@onetel.com\">imsingh@onetel.com<\/a>]<br \/> Website: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.drimsingh.co.uk\/\">www.drimsingh.co.uk<\/a><br \/> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.drimsingh.co.uk\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"zemanta-pixie\"><a class=\"zemanta-pixie-a\" title=\"Enhanced by Zemanta\" href=\"http:\/\/www.zemanta.com\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"zemanta-pixie-img\" src=\"http:\/\/img.zemanta.com\/zemified_e.png?x-id=427fe018-b59f-485f-afa3-c939aa1891a7\" alt=\"Enhanced by Zemanta\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/Kanglaonline\/~4\/4H6kiuBQE7o\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">Read more \/ Original news source: <a href=\"http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/Kanglaonline\/~3\/4H6kiuBQE7o\/\">http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/Kanglaonline\/~3\/4H6kiuBQE7o\/<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr Irengbam Mohendra Singh \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0June 10 2011 Last night I went to sleep in Bradford City. I dreamt about my mama and green rice fields of Khurukhul, their tall blades&#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/kanglaonline.com\/2011\/06\/a-meitei%E2%80%99s-dream\/\">Read more <span>&#187;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4],"tags":[116,265,542,543,33,544,257,263,330,545,546,34,547,548,549,277,550,551,360,127,552],"class_list":["post-10232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kanglaonline","category-news","tag-afspa","tag-armed-forces-special-powers-act-1958","tag-bradford-city","tag-glenmorangie","tag-india","tag-irengbam-mohendra-singh","tag-irom-chanu-sharmila","tag-irom-sharmila","tag-kanglaonline-2","tag-khurukhul","tag-konbirei","tag-manipur","tag-meitei","tag-meitei-hindu","tag-nambul-river","tag-notes-from-bradford","tag-r-k-meghen","tag-sagolband","tag-santosh-trophy","tag-united-states","tag-uripok"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10232"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10265,"href":"https:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10232\/revisions\/10265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}