Matamgi Manipur

From a paper presented by Kaka D. Iralu on the Indo-Naga conflict at the Indian Council of Social Sciences Research (ICSSR) sponsored National Seminar on Resolving Ethnic Conflicts in North East India. (Guwahati, Assam, November 11-12, 2002) Source: Nagaland - The Unknown World, KAKA WEB INTRODUCTION 1. In the light of modern political developments, the author will first try to develop a conceptual understanding of the word ethnic identity and national identity in relation to Nagaland and India. The first section will also point out the striking differences between the ethnic and national identities of Nagaland and India in the light of history, race, culture, religion and other factors. 2. In the next section, the author will give a brief history of the development of how different and even diverse ethnic identities merged into modern nation state in the modern world. These modern phenomena began in the 13th century and culminated in the 20th century. The author will trace t...

Soibam Haripriya wrote this article for the Imphal Free Press on 8 March 2013 The year had started on a wrong note. The month of January saw a newspaper based in Imphal, Manipur reporting on a disastrous marriage between a meitei woman and a non-meitei man which ended with the man deserting the woman. Apart from the extremely insensitive coverage, the title “Mayang Nupigi Phijetta Ngaoduna Lamchat kangba Mayangda mayum palluba meitei nupi awaba tare” literally translated as– “Fascinated with the dress of mayang women a meitei woman marries an immoral mayang man and has to face trouble” With as mild a translation as possible, what the title evokes along with the content is anyone’s guess. Reams and reams of any written narrative and stereotypical view of what people broadly call northeast India, speaks about the freedom that the women from these societies are used to. That cannot be farther from the truth. Most khunai kanba movements (the movements to save the community, preserve an ...

Two articles on the present situation of the NSCN-IM and their movement vis-a-vis Manipur and beyond, by Yenning. These articles were originally published by the Sangai Express and Hoi Polloi & Mundanity   Exposing the Urgency of Manipur NSCN-IM (Published in the Sangai Express on 10 Feb 2013) Political pundits are of the opinion that the political movement of NSCN-IM (frontal organisations included) have reached its zenith at least in the case of Manipur. Difficulty to manage the outfit’s demands at the constitutional level by India have turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the Union Government has given them a free hand to create a political space of their own. Equally true is the tempo in which Muivah is working realizing the timely need, or perhaps the last chance, to honourably exit from Nagaland, so as to join his wife and family in Ukhrul, Manipur. Three important factors that compel Muivah to hurry up his activities are discussed in today’s edition....

by Gideon Shadang & Kekhrie Yhome This article was originally published by the Eastern Mirror Former Indian Prime Minister Mr. A.B. Vajpayee said the Indo-Naga talks should not harp on the absolute issue of “sovereignty” and therefore it should be “unconditional.” So, the Collective Leadership (NSCN) sermonized to the Naga frontal organizations that sovereignty of Naga nation is not a plausible issue to be discussed at the moment and, thus, the Naga civil societies uncritically fed the same opinion to the general public and it was made to believe that owing to the changing international scenario of inter-dependent state system the issue of sovereignty must be purged from the aspiration of the Nagas. In other words Nagas have to find solution within the Indian Union and, subsequently, the entire gamut of political aspiration of a Naga nation state was eliminated from the discussion. Thereafter, NSCN began to engage with government of India on the redefined political stance of “...

This press release from a group of concerned Naga citizens (names listed below) was first published by the Imphal Free Press on 8 Jan 2013 Manipur has become of great concern in recent times to all of us in the light of recent incidents and the paper war still going on. Naga Meitei relationship seems to be reaching a new low. We are saddened and disturbed by this. The immediate compulsions and reasons behind the ongoing conflicts/current developments must not be underestimated. They are realities demanding our serious attention so that from them will emerge solutions that will give hope for all. They need not be allowed to sabotage the future we need to achieve together to succeed together in the fast changing world.

By Prof Jodha Chandra Sanasam   This article was originally published by Hueiyen Lanpao on 2 Jan 2013 and Epao on 3 Jan 2012 Admixed with the rasping noise of corruption, grating voices against misuse of funds; cacophony of bandhs and blockades; odour of burnt sulfur, spent bullets and blast-out explosives; acrid smell of raw blood; stench of decomposed clots, reek of putrid flesh of corpses, and hue and cry against loathsome crimes that filled in the air of Manipur in the last four decades, momentary whiffs of the friendly smell of new paper, prints and fragrance of literary words also have been continually pervading in the last two decades more strongly pronounced in the last one year.

By Yambem Laba This article was originally published by the Imphal Free Pres on 16 Dec 2012 The credit for raising the demand for a Kukiland or a Kuki state to be carved out of Manipur, does not belong to the Kukiland State Demand Committee or its armed wing, the Kuki National Organisation. It belongs to an almost unknown Kuki by the name of Hengkhulen Sithlou who had held the nondescript post of headmaster of Motbung High School in the Sadar Hills area of Senapati district. In 1970, he was said to have received the blessings of then Lieutenant-Governor of Manipur D R Kohli.

Rapping the State Government on the knuckles for the second time in less than 20 days, the Supreme Court today asked, “How can a State Government file an affidavit stating that they are killing ‘us’ and so we are killing ‘them’. Are we in a state of war ?” Are We In A State Of War? Supreme Court Tongue Lashes State Govt By a Staff Reporter of The Sangai Express, Nov 24 2012, originally published at  http://www.thesangaiexpress.com/tseitm-21325-are-we-in-a-state-of-war-supreme-court-tongue-lashes-state-govt/ Rapping the State Government on the knuckles for the second time in less than 20 days, the Supreme Court today asked, “How can a State Government file an affidavit stating that they are killing ‘us’ and so we are killing ‘them’. Are we in a state of war ?” The latest tongue lashing comes close on the heels of the “Do it quickly. People are dying out there. File your report by November 19” instructions issued by the Supreme Court on November 5, when the State Governm...

Ordeals and upheaval By Thingnam Kishan Singh This essay was originally posted by E-pao.net Part I As the majestic Himalayas gradually loop and descend in size and altitude towards the Southeast Asian frontier, interspersed with green valleys and blue hills, before immersing in the waters of the sea lays the land of Manipur washed with the Barak basin on the west and the Chindwin River on the east. History bears testimony to the travails of a civilization of the people of this land running through a course of two thousand years. Known as Kathe to the Burmese, Meklee to the Ahoms, Mooglie to the Cacharies, Cassey to the Shans, the people of this ancient Asiatic land presently called Manipur have experienced numerous upheavals as a result of encounters with different cultures and powers.

by Hannah Arendt February 27, 1969 Extracted from http://www.nybooks.com I These reflections were provoked by the events and debates of the last few years, as seen against the background of the twentieth century. Indeed this century has become, as Lenin predicted, a century of wars and revolutions, hence a century of that violence which is currently believed to be their common denominator. There is, however, another factor in the present situation which, though predicted by nobody, is of at least equal importance. The technical development of implements of violence has now reached the point where no political goal could conceivably correspond to their destructive potential or justify their actual use in armed conflict. Hence, warfare—since times immemorial the final merciless arbiter in international disputes—has lost much of its effectiveness and nearly all of its glamor. "The apocalyptic" chess game between the superpowers, that is, between those that move on the h...