Meitei - A lost identity.

Meitei – A lost identity.

Once I was scrolling through the internet and stumble across a name Mr H.Randhir Singh, I thought it must be of a Punjabi or some North Indian guy but NO it is actually one of my friend Haobam Randhir singh. The Surname Haobam make me identify he is a meitei otherwise his SINGH make him to be a Punjabi. How confusion can just a single name creates.

Yes! One can ask what’s in a name. To someone who has denounced all earthly pleasures for Spiritual attainment it signifies nothing. But to a mortal being like you and me it means everything.

Yes, a name is something which tells the full detail about a person. It identifies you from others and makes you something unique. A name is your identity, revealing your parentage, community and your origin. It differentiates one person from another and one community from another.

Meitei – one of the ethnic communities dwelling in parts of Manipur have rich traditions and cultures and take pride in their origin. Meitei is an amalgamation of 7 clans and are a martial race in nature. Meitei kings had been ruling over the kingdom of Manipur or Kangleipak for centuries prior to its merger with India.

Successive kings ruled over the kingdom maintaining a unique identity. Following their own religion of Sanamahism (An ancient meitei religion) but with the advent and spread of Hinduism, the traditional religion could not hold ground as compared to the more refined religion of Hinduism.

The ruling King of Manipur enforced his subjects to embraced Hinduism and denounced the old religion subjecting to its total destruction. All the sacred text, scripts and records where burned to cinders historically termed as (Puya mei thaba).

Perhaps that was the start of the devolution of meitei identity. The meitei’s embraced Hinduism as their state religion. New forms of worship, culture and dance forms evolved. Names changed, social nomenclature changed and along with the religion seep along social evils like casteism.

The new religion gave the people a new life, beautiful dance forms like Ras leela (Classical dance of Manipur) and new festivals started to being celebrated.

Though the new religion brought in many good things but along with it came social evils like casteism and concept of purity- impurity. Non Hindus where discarded as untouchables and impure thus a division between blood brothers started with the meitei embracing Hinduism.

To identify that they are Hindu new surnames and titles like Singh and Devi started to be added. Such things more diluted the meitei identity. I recollect an incident when one of my uncles who had gone out of the state for his higher studies long time back. After completion of his course came back and immediately changed his name. What forced him to take such a step can be easily identified as he was called Keisham Brajakumar singh but his friends rebuked him asking him how an oriental looking fellow can be a SINGH. He changed his name afterwards as Keisham Imoba meitei.

Currently there are turmoil’s in the state where our blood brothers are demanding separation from the state. The Nagas are demanding for South Nagaland and the Kukis a seperate politically administered region for the kukis. After long years of searching for a different identity Meitei’s have suddenly woken up. They have woken up to the fact that they are not different from their Brethen brother’s with whom they have co-existed for centuries.They have realized that they are their brothers and that they should not be separated. But somehow our brother’s have failed to recognize us. They have failed to recognize their brothers. We Meitei’s have lost our identity.

INDIA - a free nation

INDIA - A FREE NATION

On 15^th of August’09 our Honorable Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh unfurled the national Tricolor flag at the Historic Red Fort in Delhi. It was exactly 62 years back when the Indian union gained its Independence from the British.

After more than a century of British rule on the midnight of 14^th of August’1947 two new nation states India and Pakistan where formed. “At the stroke of midnight hour, when the world slept India awoke to life and freedom. A moment that came rarely in History, when we step out from the old to the new, than an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, find utterance…”remarked our first Prime Minister, the late Jawaharlal Nehru.

We are living in a free India, India of our dreams, India we have built to become a great nation. Where everyone is free. Free to express our mind, Free to follow any religion, to practice any profession, to marry in any caste , to move around freely at any time of the day or night, to make choices and take decisions. India is jubilant, an emerging nation growing in every aspect. Growing leaps and bounds strength to strength with free spirited people contributing in all aspect of development.

Rabindranath Tagore wrote………..

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free.

Where the world has not been broken up into

fragments by narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth….

…Into that Heaven of Freedom, my father, let my country awake

Truly India has awoken to be a free country, with guaranteed freedom for all its citizens irrespective of caste, creed, religion and region. But somehow when all of India is free, a part of it still remains. Remain as always to be bound, bounded by chains. Where Freedom is denied.

In the world’s largest democracy where everyone is expected to be free. Freedom is still deprived and denied in certain parts of the Country. Where the very people who are assigned to safeguard and uphold the freedom and dignity of the people make a mockery of the whole thing.

In states like Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland and Manipur. In the name of safeguarding the unity of the Indian union inhuman acts like Armed forces special power acts (AFSPA) have been imposed.

Such acts deny the very fundamental rights of the people.

Everyday the people has to undergo humiliation and insult. In the name of safeguarding the union, Freedom is lost. Man, Woman and Children alike are subjugated to torture and intimidation. In such parts freedom means to remain silent, Freedom means to suffer and be ready for subjugation.

For such parts of the country the hope and dreams for a new India were not achieved.Perhap another struggle, another 15^th of August still awaits them. A struggle to deliver them the real FREEDOM.

“Man is born free But everywhere he is in chain” – Rousseau.

AIDS AND YOUTH

AIDS AND YOUTH

In the modern society of Manipur everyone constantly hears about AIDS. The word AIDS at the very first instance commonly brings about a sense of Shame for the victims and topic of taboo to discuss about. It seems not right on the part of the educated individuals to continue such outlook when AIDS has made quite a deep impact on our society.

Acquire ammuno deficiency syndrome generally called AIDS is a dreaded disease. It destroys a person’s Immune system making the person susceptible to various diseases. This disease is caused by a VIRUS called HIV or Human immuno deficiency virus. Once a person acquires this virus he develops various diseases finally leading to his dead. Individuals with full blown AIDS die within 3 years from various infectious diseases.There are no cure for AIDS neither any vaccine has been developed so far.

AIDS is a global disease which has no boundary of region, religion, race or sex.As such it has also hit the shores of our country. The very first case of AIDS was detected in Georgia district of America in the year 1981. In India it was first detected in 1986 in Madras (Chennai) and in Manipur AIDS was firsts detected in 1990.

The badly affected states of our country are Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and our own state Manipur. But when scenario with respect to Manipur comes in view it is quite alarming. It can even be said that Manipur is sitting on an AIDS time bomb.

Manipur with only 0.2% of India’s total population contribute nearly 8% of India’s HIV +ve cases. So far a total of 8117 HIV +ve cases, 362 AIDS cases, 97 deaths have been reported in our state of Manipur. Still there are greater numbers of undetected and un-confirmed deaths caused due to AIDS.

In other states of India AIDS is mainly spread through sexual contact and very less through IDU users where as in our state Manipur, 76% of AIDS patient are found among the drug users of which the youth (11 to 40 yrs) form 95% of victim. The main reason behind of this being that Manipur is very closed to the “Golden Triangle” the haven for drugs and lies in the international trade route, secondly the problem prevailing in the state like law and order problems and failures, high scale un-employment,economic backwardness, degrading social, moral, Cultural and Qualitative education, which all has compounded the problem.Today the AIDS disease has acquired the dimension of and epidemic. Among the affected victims mostly is the youth generation which plays a key role in the development of the society.

The free accesses to drugs the immoral behaviour of the youth’s make them highly vulnerable to this disease. Youth generation infact are the key generation of the society. They are responsible for various developmental activities. Inspite of it youth is the time when people like to have fun and explore new things. So, in this fast trend of westernization society they start using Drugs and developing multiple sexual partners which are the key route of transmission of AIDS virus.If the total youth population is affected than the continuity of the society will be threatened and a complete wipe out of the society will take place as they formed the backbone of the society.

Inspite of many awareness campaigns being organized on the topic. People are still ignorant about the cause with a perception of personal exceptions.

The precaution for this starts with oneself. Every section of society should unite to fight the spread of this menace.

The latest propaganda of marriage after blood test rather than matching the horoscope greatly fits the longevity of relations. A popular education consisting of Moral, Social and Cultural upliftment should be imparted so that all can maintain high values of Character and regard their own rich cultural heritage to that of Western cultures.

Thus it needs a earnest efforts from parens,teachers,social workers and the government organizations to see the magnitude of the problem and start working collectively lest the problem becomes the cause of our end.

Human Rights Violation is not a New Thing in Manipur But the most Important thing is the Basic Right to LIFE which is very Uncertain in Manipur, Truly Life in Manipur is like a lottery,You only have to wait for your turn.

Right Deprived and Denied by both Non- state, self elected elements and State sponsored elements

Students and Politics

In the good old days, classes had a monitor each, while the school had a leader or a “prefect“perhaps a legacy of the British system of education. It was left to the class teacher to decide who would be the monitor for the whole academic year. The monitor had specific duties attached to him or her. Children used to vie with each other in getting into the good books of the teacher to be chosen as the monitor. The selection of the school prefect was the prerogative of the members of the staff who would suggest a name-noticeably that of a senior student to the head master or the principal.

The post of the student leader was a coveted one. The system used to work well, probably because of the strength of the schools was limited in those days. Nowadays schools are not few which boast of a strength of 2000 or 3000 plus. Small wonders, therefore these schools agreed to the formation of student unions with elected officials like general secretary and so on.

It is usually said that necessity is the mother of all inventions, but the school and college elections which were born out of necessity to better the conditions of the students community has on the contrary caused adverse hardships to the student themselves. Holding of elections divide the students and affects their academic career.

Such student election has over the time taken a peculiar shape of say like general election where campaigning, festoons, pamphlets and tea parties are hosted. Such student candidates spend immense money for this purpose. So when these candidates win the election, no matter how much reformation they want to enforce, they end up being corrupted to acquire back their money spent. Such elected bodies also start playing politics by getting into petty unrelated other issues and enforce the common students to boycott classes and thus losing up precious time and money.

Many incidents have come up where such unions have taken an active participation in boycotting classes, strikes, destroying public properties which not only affect the common students but also those daily-day bread earners and others on the face of just a demand. Thus shortly we can say that Students unions have taken the whole population under ransom.

There are various students from poor families whom their parents take great pain to educate so that later they can find a respectable job and support them, but such students are victimized by all such turmoil’s.

Recently a Professor, Md Islamuddin,was brutally killed inside the very campus where

he teach students for their better future, his fault being he was involved in Campus election of the university and had shown more allegiance towards a particular student’s union.

Such is the outcome of Student’s Politics in Manipur. A small state in the northeastern part of India where student’s politics is very strong and have a great hold over the society.

Student’s community is divided into various unions with different ideology.

One finds AMSU,MSF,DESAM,KSO,ATSUM and so on. How useful is their presence to the society at large is hard to gauge but the harm done is immense. One can still remember the student’s unrest during the 90’s for the inclusion of Manipuri language in the sixth schedule of the Indian Constitution , the agitation was fruitful and we are bearing fruits for that BUT the channel use had open doors for others and many union’s have formed and similar protest are taking place every now and than which are far from democratic in nature.

The recent being 120 hours of general strike called by DESAM to release some of their

Leaders in police custody, Similar protest are also going on in the Hill districts calling for economic blockades in lieu of their demand. Thanks to those pioneers who gave them the way how to protest.

Student unions have somehow become a menace to the society and its high time to realize whether one has to let them loose or rein them and disciplined them properly.

Such menace is the outcome of the incapability and failure on the part of the teacher’s community to connect and guide the student’s properly.Political parties should refrain themselves from playing politics with the education system. Corruption in education should be stopped, Concept of quality education should be restored, and education should be utilized for the betterment of society.

Student unions should be made autonomous and bounded by rules of conducts. College management bodies should be enacted to look into the grievances of the common students. Discipline should bind both teachers and students.

Parents and Guardians should take notice that they send their wards to schools and colleges to study rather than playing politics. Thus only when such reformation measures are put into practice then a progressive and peaceful society can be formed and as such all should work towards that goal.

MANIPUR

Fire! Fire! Everywhere
No way to escape Nowhere to hide
Oh! Thy land of mine I took pride
The lonely paradise on thy earth
But what than hath happen
All are burning in hell fire
What curse had be fallen
Your children are fighting amongst
The brothers are killing brothers
And butchering their own peoples
Savage was all who are involved
In names of religion and community
Who dared had differentiated then
Brothers from brothers
Naga’s from Kuki’s
Meitei from Pangal’s
Human from human
Thinking about themselves
Obsessed on avenging on each other
Misled by wicked thoughts
Alas! They have forgotten you
The pleasure you gave then
The richness you abound then
But what now Is everything over!
The seeds of hatred have been sown
But fear not, my motherland
Your brave sons are here
To create a miracle and retill the land
To sow seeds of love and peace
To restore you back
O land! back to paradise again.

Chinkens and Chinkies

CHICKENS and CHINKIES









Bird flu! What rubbish non can scare the Chinkies