THE IDEA OF INTEGRITY of the Manipur hills and plain is not a novel concept. It was there in the past and inspite of religious, cultural and political differences, the people of Manipur somehow had lived together under one political head. However, this issue comes up now and then and is a burning probe today, thus exposing the validity of this very unity.
There is always a tendency, thought quite natural to shift the blame to the former administrators- indigenous or foreign and ignoring the possible responsibility of the present society which also plays a vital role. Yet, one cannot but, do so, as today’s society was built on the yesteryears. Thus, to understand the present problems, the study of the past is essential so as to bring about a positive solution, to the present day problems. It is something like diagnosing the disease of a person so that remedies can be taken.
The distinction between the tribesmen and the plainsmen was already there even before the British. The contrast between the Vaishnavite Manipuris and the freedom loving tribesmen of the hills was particularly glaring. The boundaries of the state did not enclose a cultural unit but were rather a measure of the limit to which the Darbar was in the past able affectively to extract tribute from the hill tribes. The hill tribesmen were obviously made a source of profit and till 1891 as much tributes as possible was extracted from the hills while not a single rupee was spent for their benefit. They were excluded from the direct rule of the Rajas.
Right from the establishment of British Paramountcy in Manipur in 1835 till they left the state in 1947 the administration of the tribesmen was in the hands of the British Officers such as Political Agents, Vice-Presidents and President of Manipur State Darbar. Inspite of the two major anti-British movements of the tribesmen of Manipur as a result of their “DIVIDE AND RULE POLICY” and ineffective administration in the hill areas, the British Government refused to hand over the hill administration to the Raja of Manipur on the excuse that “the Manipuri has not yet learn to look upon the hillmen as a human being.” In 1937, the Maharaja was anxious to appoint his own nominee as President of the Darbar. In fact, he intended to appoint his second son to the post. In such an eventuality it was proposed by the British government that the administration of the hill areas should be taken over by the Political Agent. It was made clear that “to place the Manipur hill tribes under the direct administration of His Highness and the Darbar would be far more dangerous than to place the Assam hill tribes under the ordinary administration of the Assam Legislature” In this way, the gap between the twos remained wide.
Throughout their rule, the British adopted a similar policy towards all the hill tribes of the Northeast India. Their motive was to create a Crown Colony somewhere in the Indo-Burma frontier areas consisting of the tribal inhabited hill areas. Justifying this Coupland Plan, Sir Robert Reid, the Governor of Assam stated that he saw, “no other line along which we (the British) can fulfill our duty to these primitive peoples. They will not get a square deal from an autonomous Indian Government and the sequel would rebellion, bloodshed and ultimate ruin.” His prediction has proved true in the present context and the “ULTIMATE RUIN” is left in the hands of the government and the present generation.
Now, having traced the root-cause of the present problem to the indigenous and the British Colonial Periods, can we just be satisfied? Remain silent and wait for a time to solve by itself or for foreign powers to unite us? Can we erase the historical facts? The answer is definitely “NO”.
There can be no ideal society in a sense of the term where people are not given equal treatment and share. There will be always some trace of inequalities due to physical abnormalities or wealth. In the case of the plain people of Manipur, there is a distinct sense of discrimination against the tribes based on their social and religious beliefs. The hill people were never treated by their counter-parts on equal footing. To be specific, there are few matrimonial alliances between the two communities and that too only in one-way traffic i.e. the Meitei men marrying the tribal girls but the tribesmen could hardly marry girls from the plains. This is an example of social discrimination. In addition to this, the tribal girl married to the Meitei can never feel quite secure because her husband is likely to bring another and she can be divorced easily.
When we open a book on Manipur, we find mostly the history of the Meiteis and their culture and only a passing reference is made on the indigenous people such as the tribes thus keeping them at the back seat, whereas, the two have affinity in their origin, language, and in modern politics. The theme on the integration of the two has been high-lighted and discussed in some books, articles and at seminars but they have failed, to influence the public as a result of the attitude of the people remained unchanged.
When we open the economics and commercial book of Geography, we find that localization of industries or factories depends to a great extend on the supply of abundant quantity of raw materials at the lowest cost and therefore nearness to raw materials is an important point for consideration regarding growth or establishment of a particular industry or factory. It is a fact that the hill districts of Manipur especially Churachandpur District is the greatest producer of pine-apple, sugar-cane and cotton but Fruit Juice crushing centre, Spinning Mill etc. were all located in the Valley. In addition to this the tribals are sometimes forced to sell their goods at cheaper rates as they must return home before sunset.
With the joining of Manipur to the Constituent Assembly and the introduction of the responsible government, the hill tribes of Manipur were politically integrated with the plains people but their emotional integration remained an open question.
It has been observed that the so-called “CHINGTAM” [hill and plain] relationship have only maintained a low level equilibrium. A high level equilibrium will not be achieved unless we touch it with “A FEELING A MUTUAL LOVE” and “A SENSE OF UNDERSTANDING”.
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