LEAFLETS

A PRAYER FOR MANIPUR

Land, People and Language of Manipur

Lord! Thank you very much for allowing me to pray for the people of Manipur especially for those who have been the victims of armed conflict and human rights violations in Manipur."
Land:
Manipur has been under the siege of India since 15 October 1949, for about 59 years now. A puppet government of India called Manipur Government is administering it without being truthful. Manipur was under British protection from 1891 until 15th August 1947, for about 56 years. Manipur was independent with mixed feelings for about 2 years from 1947 till 1949 and conducted a General Election of its Parliament under a very old political system. All went to India which apparently created a political turmoil since then. There shall be no peace in Manipur without an Independent Government of its own. The people have a good experience of it.Meetei Leipak (Meeteiland), Kangleipak, Kathe, Ponnas, Hsiao Po-lo-mein, Cassay, Moglai, Mekle etc. of about 22 names were its names in different ages. 74 Monarchs ruled the land from 33 AD till 1949. Location is latitude 23.83° and 25.68° (North) and in longitude 93. 03° and 94.78° (East), with an area of 22,327 sq. km. The capital Imphal lies at 24.82° north latitude and 93.95° east longitude and it must follow + 6.30 hours of GMT, but now follows + 5.30 GMT. What a surprise!Development process and economic planning are all colonial totally. Not a single major industry, much less an important establishment has been established in Manipur. Whereas several hundreds of crores of rupees have been spent apparently on paper maintained for the record in order to refuel and recycle their colonial apparatus, quite a few families in Manipur are also used as colonial subsidiaries, the economic condition of the average people of Manipur especially those in the hill areas has not improved even upto the level of subsistence. People survive on grassroots in the Manipur hill areas because of colonial economic process. The Manipuri hill-men and plainsmen are divided by the Presidential approval to a divisive law – Manipur Land Revenue and Land Regulation Act, which debar plainsmen to seek access to Manipur hills. The apartheid has been created. All natural resources of Manipur can be exploited by the Indian Government only. Manipur has to develop on subsistence economy.
People:
Population is about 22, 93, 896 comprising of Meetei 60% and tribes and Muslims with others the rest 40%. Socially the Indians are Mayangs, meaning foreigners. Meeteis are Mangang, Luwang, Khuman, Moirang, Leishangthem, Angom and Khaba Nganba along with some foreign origin population of Pangal (Manipuri Muslims) and Bamon (Brahmins). Tribes are Tangkhul, Maring, Mao, Maram, Thadou, Kuki, Mizo, Moyon, Anal, Kom, Koireng, Zemei, Lengmei, Longmei, Purum, Paomai, Hmar, Zou, Paite etc. There are Nepalis who migrated illegally from outside. About 35 ethnic groups construct the society.National Liberation Movement started since 1949. Manipur Nationalist Party demanded the revocation of Manipur Merger Agreement. A Christian leader and former Chief Minister, Yangmaso Saiza also took part. The masses voiced their protests, partly democratic and partly militant in the later 1960s. The movement turned out pro-active. Meetei State Committee, Revolutionary Government of Manipur (RGM) based in Bangladesh during the Pakistan time, Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF), UNLF, KYKL, PREPAK, KCP and KUKI outfits are prominent. RPF is the political wing of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur. PLA started armed struggle in 1978. Full scale armed resistance was very active across the valley of Manipur with the ‘DAWN’ [a monthly publication] distributed to all embassies located in Delhi. A combined militancy called Manipur People’s Liberation Army [MPLA] of RPF, UNLF, KYKL and PREPAK opposed the Indian military occupation in Manipur by occupying a certain territory along the Myanmar border. They claimed the de facto sovereignty of Manipur running a parallel like underground government under separate flags and titles of authority. Several hundred of freedom fighters were martyred for a common cause though India declared them unlawful. While suppressing them, India violated human rights as routine work. Draconian Laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act [AFSPA], Punjab Security Act, Terrorists and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act, and National Security Act took repressive roles for India’s security. Extra judicial killings, third degree tortures, molestations, rape, genocide, assault and mass killings were carried out in society. Innumerable Indian troops are now operating in Manipur. India is using alcohol, drugs, money, sex and many other inhuman methods as counter insurgency action plan to weaken and demoralize the youths of Manipur. Such counter insurgency operations spread HIV and AIDS instead.Socio-economic and Political Colonization deprived the inalienable political freedom of the people of Manipur resulting to the looting of the unlimited natural resources, the vast national wealth of Manipuri nation. Those unlimited resources were for the people’s self-determination and self sufficiency. India never appointed any Meetei of Manipur to any important position. India enslaved Manipuri economically so that State Terrorism could run systemically introducing and enforcing colonial laws and rules. Under AFSPA, a non commissioned officer can kill anybody on suspicion or out of hatred without any judicial process or legal sanction. It resulted to the extra-judicial torture and execution of the innocent. It affected the economy to the bottom line. Common people are now below the poverty line. Jobless and unemployed are at the top of daily agenda. Blockade and bund clash with the government. Farmers are not active in the fields. Irrigation and road development failed. Institutions are sinking. Youths fled homes. India again created quotas of ‘Scheduled Castes’ and ‘Scheduled Tribes’ thereby killing the work culture totally. On the other hand there is a captive market of the Mayangs who are all Hindu leaders.
Language:
Meiteilon or Meeteilon means Meetei language is also called ‘Manipuri’ and sometimes, the 19th century British term, Meithei, which is the name of the people, is the predominant language and lingua franca in the southeastern Himalayan kingdom of Manipur, in northeastern India. It is the official language in government offices. It is also spoken in Assam and Tripura, Bangladesh and Myanmar. It is the official language of Manipur along with English. The language has a long history of Literature and is offered as a subject upto Post-graduate level (Ph.D.) in Universities and colleges of India, apart from being a medium of instruction up to the undergraduate level in Manipur. All the tribes and people inhabiting Manipur use the language for communication to each other. English Language is also slowly gaining ground. India included it in the list of Major Indian Languages by the 71st amendment of Indian Constitution in 1992. Meetei Mayek is now officially recognised as Manipuri script. It was used in ancient times, not in vogue for a certain period, now gained popularity. There are 29 different dialects spoken in Manipur. The Government of Manipur recognised six main dialects only for medium of instruction and examination purposes up to class V. They are, Tangkhul (language of Tangkhul people), Hmar (language of Hmar people), Paite (language of Paite people), Lushai (language of Lushai people), Thadou/Kuki (language of Kuki people), Mao (language of Mao People). Meitei-lon has proven to be a large integrating factor among all ethnic groups in Manipur. India Government imposed Hindi as the Indian national language, which exists officially. However the language has not gained ground in social activities due to threats from the armed insurgents. The language should not be confused with another Indo-Aryan origin language, known as ‘Bishnupriya’, which is neither Manipuri nor Meiteilon at all. A different community called Bishnupriya inhibited in remote areas of Jiribam district of Manipur and outside Manipur used it as a spoken dialect. The Pangals are all Muslims speaking Meeteilon as their mother tongue since they descended from their first ancestor of Meetei women. They called Manipur motherland not fatherland. Meeteis and tribes are identical anthropologically but not the other ones. Mayangs speak Hindi, otherwise Meeteilon in public. Scholars opined that Meiteilon is a tonal language similar to many languages around the world except Europe, Middle East, South Asia and the Pacific. Chinese is perhaps the most well-known of such languages. In Europe, Norwegian, Swedish, Lithuanian, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, some dialects of Slovene possess elements of tonality, but this is in most cases better understood as a pitch accent. A Franconian language in Limburgish of France plays tones an important role. Other Indo-European tonal languages, spoken in the Indian subcontinent, are Punjabi, Lahanda and Western Pahari. Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Lao, and Burmese are of the same group of tone. Mongolian, Khmer, Malay, standard Japanese and Korean are not. Tibet is tonal, while the dialects of the West are not. In the Japanese of Tokyo, tonal patterns are adapted to multi-syllable words. Mandarin has four tones, similar to Thai's without the middle tone. Cantonese has at least 8 tonal contours: high even, high falling (which is becoming obsolete, and changing to high even), high rising, middle even, middle rising, low even, low falling and low rising.
Conclusion:
Peace would be a far cry in Manipur for many years to come. Socio-cultural colonization is the main cause. Proxy elections are conducted by spending crores of Indian rupees in order to perpetuate colonization through quislings, puppet regimes and fifth columnists thereby misleading the illiterate electorate. India in no way will be able to justify its election since the people of Manipur cannot exercise their ‘independent political will.’ Several thousands of mercenaries, subversives and spies are secretly or openly working in Manipur to maintain law and order, in the process human rights are violated grossly with fake encounters everyday.

Dr. S R Mangang
Convener, ifop

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MANIPURI MEITEIS IN BANGLADESH

Introduction:Manipuri or Meitei Community of Bangladesh are neither 'Upojati' nor Tribal nor Indigenous nor Adivashi as they originated from Manipur, where they are not tribals but the dominating community. Bishnupriya Community of Bangladesh are neither Manipuri nor Meitei but 'Bishnupriya' or may be called 'Lepnai' as they originated from outside Manipur but through Manipur to Bangladesh; that is the reason, perhaps they are calling themselves 'Manipuri'. For socio-economic purposes of the Bangladesh Government, Meiteis may be treated as 'Socio-economically Backward Community' since the majority of them are now 'Below the Poverty Line'.
Geography:The Meitei community lives in the flat farmlands of Sylhet division, mainly in Moulvibazar district of Bangladesh. They also reside in a few villages in the other three districts of Sylhet division. The vast majority of Meitei villages are easily accessible by public buses and/or rickshaws, as they are close to main roads and towns. Living on flat farmland—and in Bangladesh one is never too far from a sizable river—their villages are prone to the yearly flooding that afflicts most of Bangladesh. In Kamalganj subdistrict of Moulvibazar district, which is the population and cultural center of the Bangladesh Meitei community, the Dhalai river flows through the heart of the Meitei community, bringing both life and destruction. In India, the Meitei live primarily in Manipur. There they are the majority, and their language is the official language and the language of wider communication among the various ethnic communities. This is the reason why Meitei speakers call themselves Manipuri. Imphal is the capital city in Manipur and the center of Meitei culture, language and society.The geographical origin of the Meitei-speaking people in Bangladesh is the area that is now Manipur in India. Manipur is universally recognized as the hub of Meitei language, culture, and education. One simply cannot talk about the Meitei without mentioning Manipur. Manipur was previously known by various names (Kyangleipak, Kyangkleipang, Kyanglei, Meitrabak, and Mekhali). One theory is that the land was named Manipur by missionaries who arrived there from Sylhet during the reign of Maharaj Garibniwaz in the first half of the eighteenth century (Islam 2003:409). Farooque Ahmed writes: “Manipur is one of the oldest civilizations in Southeast Asia and has a long history of monarchy before coming under British imperialism in 1891 and merging into India in 1947. Traditional Puya attributes this land with the first anointment of a king in 33 AD. His successors started the process of nation building by conquering all the clan territories in the valley that was completed in the 15th Century. Her territory saw its greatest expansion in 1475 with the annexation of Kabow valley by Garibniwaz Pamheiba and lost that territory in 1834. The reference to losing the territory in 1834 gives a hint as to how the Meiteis ended up in Bangladesh. Manipuris migrated to Bangladesh and settled at different times due to wars, conflicts and socio-political reasons. Their migration started during the reign of Rajarshi Baghyachandra (1764–1789) and the process was accelerated by the Manipur-Burma War (1819–1825) which is a black chapter in the history of Manipur. After the war with Burma, Manipur was ruled by the Burmese invaders for about seven years. During that period, King Chourajit Singh along with two younger brothers, Marjit Singh and Gambhir Singh took refuge in Sylhet. A hoard of Manipuri subjects followed them. A palace was built at that time at Mirzajangal of Sylhet town. After fleeing war and its effects, the Meitei put down roots in present-day Bangladesh, mostly in Sylhet division, as one of the forty or so language groups of Bangladesh. Of course, as they witnessed India’s independence from the British, experienced the years as East Pakistan, and finally the birth of Bangladesh as a nation, their post-Manipur years have also been fraught with great historical turmoil.History:The history of a people, a language, and a land is never perfectly clear or universally agreed upon. Whether it is eyewitness accounts of events or interpretation of those events by historians, there is rarely only one point of view. This is not simply an academic exercise of disagreeing over past events. The causes behind divergent views of history are often far more meaningful because history can have a significant bearing on the present as well as the future. Writing about the history of the Meitei in Bangladesh is tricky because they and the Bishnupriya are mired in just such a disagreement. As both the Meitei and Bishnupriya have admitted, there are political reasons for the current division and disagreement. Both groups want the name Manipuri attached to their group, and language, as there are certain economic and political advantages to being so recognized by the Bangladesh government. The Bishnupriya in general do not seem to mind sharing the Manipuri name with the Meitei. However, there are several strong voices among the Meitei rejecting the notion that the Bishnupriya should in any way be considered Manipuri.People:There are about 50,000 Meiteis (Pangan also) in Bangladesh according to an unconfirmed source. A research project very recently identified as much as the least number. They predominantly rely on rice farming for much of their livelihood although there are a fair number of businessmen as well. Most of them live in villages. Their life style is not as integrated members of a wider Bangladeshi community. There are very few who live in a large city such as Dhaka. This kind of living pattern seems typical among the speakers of traditional languages of Bangladesh. The facial features of the Meitei leave no doubt that they are not native to Bangladesh. They originally came from the east from a predominantly Mongoloid stock. The Banglapedia explains that “ethnologically Meitei belong to the Kuki-Chin group of the Tibeto-Burman family of the Mongolian race. But a good admixture of Aryan and other blood groups took place in the mainstream of Manipuri nation”. It is not however true in the real sense of the term “Meitei.” Meitei woman used their traditional clothes. The majority Meiteis are Hindus. In recent years Sanamahism (ancient Meitei faith) increased tremendously due to revivalism influence coming from Manipur where the faith originated. In addition, the Lai Haraoba festival is also important.Pangan:Among the people of Meitei the Pangan whose religion is Islam have a different facial structure of Bengali. They are of foreign origin of war captives (during the Mughal Rule in India) in Manipur. In Bangladesh locality sometimes they are called ‘Khai Bangal’. They are mostly Sunni Muslims. Eid remains their annual festival of all importance. The Moulvi conducts their marriage and circumcision. They have customs and observances inherited from their first ancestors who were Meitei women. In Bangladesh also they live in Moulvi Bazar district only. They with the other Hindu Meiteis and the Lepnai people (Bishnupriya) migrated from Manipur during the Seven Years Devastation of 1819-26 AD. Male cultural dresses are different from that of the Meiteis. Pangan men and women are extremely expert in agriculture and handicrafts.Language:Meitei is one of the eighteen major languages of India, recognized by the Government of India. There is a little difference in pronunciation between the Meitei spoken in Bangladesh and the Meitei spoken in Manipur in India and it is due to language environment. Pure Meitei language is however widely used in their villages. Meitei speakers are praying or conversing at home or with neighbors. Meitei children do appear to continue to speak Meitei as their best language, which is an indication that the Meitei language is not being lost. On the other hand, Meitei speakers acknowledge the need to know other languages, primarily Bangla. They tend to feel that Bangla should be the medium of education in primary schools, and that it is okay for their children to speak another language better than Meitei. There is not a single School in Bangladesh teaching in their own language of Meitei. Meitei children attend Bangla-medium schools. They are all fluent in Bangla. As a result, they will be less apt to use Meitei widely. Younger people are more literate in Bangla than in Meitei, it is likely that they will learn a broader vocabulary and become increasingly fluent in Bangla. Over time, this will be a threat to the vitality of the Meitei language in Bangladesh. Meitei speakers express positive attitudes towards their children’s learning to read and write in Meitei. They seem to think this would be good for the children themselves and for the Meitei community as a whole. Meitei adults also appear to be interested in learning to read and write in Meitei, especially if they were taught using the (traditional) Meitei script. Thus, while acknowledging the need and even desire for other languages, mother-tongue Meitei speakers also express some pride in their own language. Bilingualism study Meitei speakers in Bangladesh feel they are bilingual and even multilingual, as nearly all say they speak some Bangla and as many speak other languages, too. They however do write comfortably in Meitei though majority has a good command of Bangla. They can easily understand local Bangla in a variety of situations, and they are generally understood by mother-tongue Bangla speakers. Many of these people have passed their Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams in Bangla only. Now all have a very good proficiency in Bangla but in the next generation Meitei may substitute Bangla due to increasing phenomenon of learning Meitei in Meitei Script and high flow of electronics media from Manipur where film albums have been developed commercially. Manipur Government also did not disturb it. In Bangladesh the Government has no idea of establishment of Meitei medium Schools till date. Meitei children are missing learning in their own mother tongue. Meitei language is a language of instruction in schools, colleges and universities up to Ph D level and also at the highest Civil Service levels, like IAS (Indian Administrative Services), IFS (Indian Foreign Services), IPS (Indian Police Services), MCS (Manipur Civil Services) and MPS (Manipur Police Services) etc. in India. Mass media, culture, films, songs, and music videos are produced. In Bangladesh, however, it is still primarily an oral language, used exclusively by and within the Meitei community only. They are using Bengali script, which displaced their Meitei script in the eighteenth century during the reign of King Pamheiba (Garibniwaz) in Manipur. Meitei script is absolutely unique to the Meiteis. The Banglapedia noted, “a characteristic feature of the old Manipuri script is that each and every alphabet is named according to a limb of the human body. Their shapes are also in consonance with those of the limbs” (410). Here is a sample of the script, which is known as Meetei Mayek:

Manipur reintroduced the script in schools. In Sylhet division where Meiteis are residing, some social workers started teaching the script under trained teachers without getting any help from the government. We hope the Government may patronize them.Dr R Renatus SanabamIndependent Researcher28 July, 2008
Sources: Internet
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15 September, 2008: BRUTALLY TORTURED

Over 20 Moreh-Imphal travellers brutally assaulted by Assam Rifles; Electric shocks used, say victims
The Imphal Free PressIMPHAL, Sep 14: More than 20 male passengers of Moreh to Imphal bound Tata Sumo vehicles were brutally tortured by the personnel of 18 Assam Rifles under 9 sector for being unable to produce their personal identity cards during a check at Tengnoupal Assam Rifles post today.Assam Rifles PRO however claimed only routine non-physical screening was done.The matter came to light following the disclosures of some of the victims after they reached Imphal this evening. According to them, the incident occurred when two personnel of the Assam Rifles at the entry gate under the influence of alcohol made all the male passengers of Tata Sumo vehicles coming from Moreh towards Imphal get down before reaching the check post at Tengnoupal Assam Rifles post.The male passengers were interrogated and asked to show their identity cards, failing which they were detained inside the interrogation room and given third degree torture.One of the victims, Brajamayum Robin Sharma, 30, son of B Shyam Sharma of Bamon Leikai and a businessman, the Tata Sumo which he was travelling in with some local businessmen from Moreh was the first passenger vehicle to reach Tengnoupal army check post around 9 am.The passengers from the Tata Sumo were made to get down before reaching the said army check point as usual and walk through the check point. Suddenly, a Manipuri speaking personnel conducted verification of each of the male passengers, asking for their personal identity cards as they were walking across the check point. Thereafter, passengers numbering about 13 males who were unable to produce their identity cards were detained and taken into the nearby army barrack and interrogated one after the other on their reasons for their visit to Moreh. Many of the male passengers who were known to each other because of their business in Moreh.All were then brutally assaulted.Robin said he was beaten with a bludgeon several times on his back and knees which resulted in the total damage of his mobile phone also. One of the personnel also took away Rs. 4,500 in cash from his pocket and he saw many other passengers being brought into the same barrack one after the other to be given third degree treatment. Some of them were also taken away and sent back in half conscious state and detained till this afternoon.Meanwhile, another victim identified as RK Dhanajit Singh, 29, son of RK Sanajaoba Singh of Wangkhei Hijam Leikai who runs a shop at Moreh and who came with his wife this afternoon, said that the passengers of the Tata Sumo in which he along with his wife and other passengers from Moreh were travelling reached Tengnoupal army check point around this noon. He also said all passengers walked across the first army check post at Tengnoupal as usual and two personnel standing near the check post suddenly asked the male passengers to produce their identity cards. Three of them were brought to an isolated room in the camp where he saw several male persons with signs of torture.He further said another personnel entered the room and announced in Hindi for three persons including him to step out. On his inability to produce his identity card he informed the AR personnel that he was a BE student who had left his studies and had lost his card.At this another AR personnel who was drunk entered the room and assaulted him with firewood several times at his back and knees and later he was taken into a small interrogation room where he found an elderly man who was a handyman of a JCB lying there in half conscious state after he was subjected to electric shock.He said after being detained for some time in the room, they were called by an officer in civil dress and set free around 2 pm. The wife of RK Dhanajit, named Chitrabala, said that soon after the male passengers were detained by the army at their camp, all the Tata Sumos remained parked beyond the Tengnoupal army post waiting for their release till this afternoon.She further said following the prolonged detention all the women passengers got down from their respective vehicles and gathered at the gate of Tengnoupal demanding release of the male passengers this afternoon.After the post commander of the army post was informed he came out in civil dress to where the women passengers were gathered and thereafter all the detained passengers were released one after the other. However, three of the passengers were detained further in the Ar custody at Tengnoupal, they added.
(Dr S R Mangang distributed to the members of the BICPAJ)

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