By Santosh Kumar Singha, Manipal
The Bishnupriyas are also a branch of Manipuri people.However, the Meiteis object the Bishnupriyas' claim to calling themselves as Manipuris. A great debate had been raging on the subject. No final decision has been arrived at. The Manipuris ( Meiteis ) base their arguments on linguistic and anthropology and theoretically speaking, they have many valid reasons to establish their view points. But the Bishnupriyas argumentation rests on culture and the contribution of Bishnupriyas' in propagating the Manipuri culture is significant to boot.
Rajarshi Bhagyachandra who is reported to have married a maiden of this community, thereby leading to birth of his son who later on became to be known as Kalaraja. The Rajkumar families in Ningthoukhong trace their origin to kalaraja. In due course of time, the community left Manipur in large numbers during the time of mass evacuation into Cachar, tripura and sylhet during Manipur-Burma wars in the first phase of eighteenth century. The descendents of Kalaraja stuck on to the motherland along with some of their relatives. The have now been completely absorved in the Manipuri community leaving no trace of any distinction whatsoever. The population which left manipur in the exodus towards the West also included manipur Muslims and the community now known as the Bishnupriyas. In Cachar, Tripura and Sylhet the Bishnupriyas also got settles more or less on the neighbourhood of the Manipuris. Till recently the Bishnupriyas sincerely struggled to get into the mainstream of Manipuri culture and language. A total absorption of this community into the Manipuri fold would have been possible except for the extreme orthodoxy of the Manupuris outside Manipur in this regard. The social process in Manipur has worked in a much more liberal and catholic outlook than in Cachar and Tripura. The total absence of this problem in Manipur, the mainland, is an eloquent explanation of this contention.
Rightly or wrongly the process of absorption in the said areas was too slow in view of the onslaught of other socio-economic factors in the states of Assam and Tripura.
Tombi Singh, however decries the Bishnupriyas' claim as bonafide Manipuris and their dilect as Manipuri language. The most pertinent point in this connection need clarification that during the period of survey (1765-1873) this contentious issue of Meitei Bishnupriya controversy was totally known and the issue had cropped up recently.
Like the Manipuris the Bishnupriyas also constitute an ethnic minority in Barak Valley. However, their number is less than the meiteis. The Patharkandi area of karimganj district a large number of them live. In the contiguous Tripura areas they are a significant minority. They have been living there since the days of krishna Kishore Manikya.
The Bishnupriyas are very close linguistically to the Bengalis or Assamese but they follow the Manipuri culture. They are also Vaishnavites and their music and dances follow the same pattern of the Meiteis.
Reference: From the book ' A Socio Economic History of South Assam' by renowned writer Suhas Chatterjee who has written a number of books on the history of Assam. This particular book is adapted from the Final Report of the ICSSR, Senior fellowship project, A SOCIO ECONOMIC HISTORY OF BARAK VALLEY (1765-1873). The author acknowledges with thanks publication assistance which he has received from the INDIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH (Ministry of Human Resource Development), New Delhi and the author further extends his gratitude to Dr.G.N Rao, the consultant, ICSSR, New Delhi.
Rajarshi Bhagyachandra who is reported to have married a maiden of this community, thereby leading to birth of his son who later on became to be known as Kalaraja. The Rajkumar families in Ningthoukhong trace their origin to kalaraja. In due course of time, the community left Manipur in large numbers during the time of mass evacuation into Cachar, tripura and sylhet during Manipur-Burma wars in the first phase of eighteenth century. The descendents of Kalaraja stuck on to the motherland along with some of their relatives. The have now been completely absorved in the Manipuri community leaving no trace of any distinction whatsoever. The population which left manipur in the exodus towards the West also included manipur Muslims and the community now known as the Bishnupriyas. In Cachar, Tripura and Sylhet the Bishnupriyas also got settles more or less on the neighbourhood of the Manipuris. Till recently the Bishnupriyas sincerely struggled to get into the mainstream of Manipuri culture and language. A total absorption of this community into the Manipuri fold would have been possible except for the extreme orthodoxy of the Manupuris outside Manipur in this regard. The social process in Manipur has worked in a much more liberal and catholic outlook than in Cachar and Tripura. The total absence of this problem in Manipur, the mainland, is an eloquent explanation of this contention.
Rightly or wrongly the process of absorption in the said areas was too slow in view of the onslaught of other socio-economic factors in the states of Assam and Tripura.
Tombi Singh, however decries the Bishnupriyas' claim as bonafide Manipuris and their dilect as Manipuri language. The most pertinent point in this connection need clarification that during the period of survey (1765-1873) this contentious issue of Meitei Bishnupriya controversy was totally known and the issue had cropped up recently.
Like the Manipuris the Bishnupriyas also constitute an ethnic minority in Barak Valley. However, their number is less than the meiteis. The Patharkandi area of karimganj district a large number of them live. In the contiguous Tripura areas they are a significant minority. They have been living there since the days of krishna Kishore Manikya.
The Bishnupriyas are very close linguistically to the Bengalis or Assamese but they follow the Manipuri culture. They are also Vaishnavites and their music and dances follow the same pattern of the Meiteis.
Reference: From the book ' A Socio Economic History of South Assam' by renowned writer Suhas Chatterjee who has written a number of books on the history of Assam. This particular book is adapted from the Final Report of the ICSSR, Senior fellowship project, A SOCIO ECONOMIC HISTORY OF BARAK VALLEY (1765-1873). The author acknowledges with thanks publication assistance which he has received from the INDIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH (Ministry of Human Resource Development), New Delhi and the author further extends his gratitude to Dr.G.N Rao, the consultant, ICSSR, New Delhi.
" Like the Manipuris the Bishnupriyas also constitute an ethnic minority in Barak Valley. However, their number is less than the meiteis."
ReplyDelete"The Bishnupriyas are very close linguistically to the Bengalis or Assamese but they follow the Manipuri culture. They are also Vaishnavites and their music and dances follow the same pattern of the Meiteis"
Santosh from whatever you had sent, it cues, its pronounces that Bishnupriyas follow the Manipuris. In other words, Bishnupriya is an offshoot of Manipuri.They are both different entities. Are you trying to say that? Or is the source from where this piece has been taken implies that? Please clarify. I may be wrong, but from the language it pretty much cues, demarcates Bishnupriya from Manipuri.
Read below collated from different sources:
Manipuri denotes two linguistic groups: Meitei and Bishnupriya Manipuri
The Manipuris, from a linguistic point of view, are divided into two groups, namely - the Meiteis and the Bishnupriyas. The Meiteis entered Manipur from the east; their Language is of the Tibeto-Burman group. The Bishnupriyas entered Manipur from the west; their language is of the Indo-Aryan group. "Manipuris are divided into two main tribes – the – khalachais, who call themselves Bishnupriyas, are supposed to have been the first cultural race and the Meitheis or Meetheis, who call themselves real Manipuris are supposed to have been next immigrants."- said Shri R. M. Nath in his Book The Background of Assamese culture. The term Meitei is most probably derived from "Mai" ( Mai =people, comp. Burmese "mai" =man) + "Tai"(=Thai), meaning the Thai people. Shri R. M. Nath states " Mei-theis is clearly - people of Theis land meaning people coming from central China". The term Bishnupriya is derived from Vishnupurika or Bishnupriya. It is said that these people were the followers of the Vishnu cult from the very ancient times. They installed the image of lord Vishnu at a place in Manipur, which was given the name Bishnupur. In Linguistic Survey of India, 1891 Sir G. A. Grierson recorded their Language as"Bishnupriya Manipuri". Sir Grierson what he recorded in ‘Linguistic Survey of India’ Vol.. V, Part 1, is "A tribe known as Mayang speaks a Mongrel form of Assamese by the same name. They are also known as Bishnupriya Manipuri." Dr. Suniti kumar Catterji also calls the Bishnupriya Manipuri (BPM) language simply "Bishnupriya" or "Mayang".But "Mayang" is a misnomer for this language. The Bishnupriya Manipuris never called themselves as "Mayang".It is term used by the Meiteis in a degrading sense to denote Indian people outside Manipur. In Meitei, the "Mayang" means foreigner, westerner, just as the Bishnupriya Manipuris called the Meiteis "Khai", which stands for Thai or Tribe meaning. It is, however, clear that both these two languages were formed in the soil of Manipur.
Bishnupriya Manipuri - A language originated in Manipur
The Bishnupriya Manipuris, belonging as they do to the Indo-Aryan group of Manipuris, have a great antiquity. Manipur was known to the Burmese as Kathe as it belonged to the Kshatriyas coming from the Western and Northern India and to the people of Assam as Moglu. It was also known in the Epic age as Makhalee which the people of Southern China would call Meiun Khala meaning the country of the wide lake (Logtak) and the inhabitants were called Maiyangs or Khalachais,who claim their descent from Babrubahan, a son of the valiant Arjun of the Mahabharata fame, and adoption of the cult of Lord Vishnu. Hence they were called Bishnupriyas and had their ancient capital town at Bishnupur which the 7th century Chinese pilgrim Hsuan Tsang had mentioned in his account as Ishangnupul.Though reputed to be the first cultured ruling race of Manipur they had to bear the brunt of a series of Kuki-Chin incursions and the valley, ultimately went, under the occupation of the Meiteis.
The oppressions acted upon the Bishnupriyas followed by insensate burning of books and records during the reign of king Pamheiba in the early part of the 18th century, resulted in the annihilation of the old tradition. Repeated Burmese invasions that followed such tyrannical rule caused a large number of Bishnupriyas to leave their heart and home, migrate partly to Cachar, Sylhet and Tripura and partly to Burma. Of the remaining population a major portion merged with Meiteis and only a fraction was left to see its rapidly falling moral and material standards and find its mother tongue forced helplessly intooblivion. The burning of books, searched out even from hidden comers , however, continued to avert any possibility to trace the history of Manipur and Chronicles were prepared under the strict supervision of the Icings. W.Shaw and Raj Mohan Nath , two eminent scholars are of the view that "Bishnupriya" with its Devanagai script had been the court language of Manipur and was replaced by king Khagenba . The Meiung or the Bishnupriya Manipuri language is virtually extinct in present Manipur though 1000 speakers of this language could be traced there by Dr. Grierson early this century during his linguistic survey.
Works of both Indian and European Scholars bear testimonies to the existence of Bishnupriya Manipuri in Manipur in the earliest time. The "Khumal Purana" Of Pandit Navakhendra Singh refers to the existence of Bishnupriya Manipuri language in Manipur during the reign of Garib Nawaj. Pandit Navakhendra states - " The main stream of Manipuri, the Aryan origin people, the khumal, Moirang, Angam and Luwang who are following the Vedic cult from the epic ages being the devotees of Lord Vishnu distinguish themselves from the Meitheis". Elder Bishnupriyas believe that the first four principalities - Khumal, Luwang, Moirang and Angom, of Manipur Valley being Aryan branches adopted Indo-Aryan Language as their court language using Devanagari script which later turned to Assamese script and that Aryan Language is known as Bishnupriya Manipuri language and they named the land "Manipur" (as Kuki-chin people cannot turn the name of the land to an Aryan word). The Bishnupriya Manipuri language though had been driven out of the states court language, retained by the Aryan people in Manipur and which they took shelter in Assam, Tripura, Burma and Bangladesh, in 19th century due to Burmese attack maintains IRS existence today.
For details click here:
http://manipuri.freeservers.com/bpm.html#devide
Thanks
Henryy
sorry this is the link. you can search the article here and other info
ReplyDeletehttp://manipuri.freeservers.com/learn.html
Hey Santosh,
ReplyDeleteWas waiting for your revert. But anyways, must say I appreciate your effort. Atleast you have taken the pain to find out about something which is important and something which needs debate and understanding for all of us.
I just have a request to the owner of this blog and my brother Rishi.
Buddy can we find a way where important topics like this, "History of Bishnupriya Manipuri one must know" or topics which are of concern or of importance to the Bishnupriya Manipuri community get the maximum highlight. I am a bit dissapointed as such an important topic as this would die because of its low visibility. Example, when I opened the blog today, I saw a new topic, "Bangladeshi...back in Assam". Agree this article is of great importance. But we should also see that one can avail this piece of news in newspapers, radio or televison or even the the internet.However topics like this ( the one by Santosh) are hard to come by. Lets forget about whether we agree with the content or not. But I genuinely feel this content needs more highlight, needs more eyeballs. It should be a burning issue. AS I said earlier, we cannot and we do not come across such topics other than this blog as of now. Let us know. Let us debate. Let us find out what we write about our history. Let us find out what others write about our history.
There might be technical constraints in giving preferntial prominence to some topics. But is there a way Rishi to do something to highlight our burning topics. Maybe a column saying, The Week's burning issues'. Cant really pin point. Ofcourse the call will you yours. You are doing a fantastic job so far. I feel my day is incomplete till I open the blog atleast twice a day. Hope and know you would take this to a new level.
Bhul kitao matle yarou nakorbang:)
Bana/Henryy
In this blog I said clearly, we are Manipuri first Bishnupriya later.It reminds me of one of my fellow bishnuriyas, whom I call Rana da,once questioned me telephonically, 'why you people are fighting for 'Manipuri' as prefix on Bishnupriya?Be happy with "Bishnupriya".For a long time his father was teaching in Manipur in pre indepence era.On that day my answer was in the form of a question 'What were you? Manipuri or Bishnupriya in early sixties?He
ReplyDeletedid not reply.I was told, they are quite comfortable in speaking Bengali at home.
There should not be any doubt left in one`s mind that Bishnupriya is not Manipuri or vice versa.
Really it is a very interesting debate.I have learnt a lot of things from this blog.
Our main issue is to let people know we, Bishnupriyas were driven away from Manipur and we are Manipuris.We should propagate through all means ie.print or electronic media.
As far as the first comment made by Henry Sinha, i would like to clarify that what was meant in my article is that manipuris(meiteis as you call)are already recognised and accepted nationally and internationally while there is another sub-community called Bishnupriya Manipuri who also belongs to Manipuri community whose contributions to this culture can never be challenged and it has to be communicated to the mass.
ReplyDeletewhatever i wrote in the article are extracted from a book accepted by ICSSR,New Delhi, Indian Council of Social Science, New Delhi whose director is our own bishnupriya manipuri and Ministry of Human Resource, India.So,the validity of the report is doubtless. Moreover as far as R.M Naths findings about Meitei and Bishnupriya manipuri is concerned, i am eager to know about the recognition of the book and by which organisation. I have some doubt on the points made by R.M Nath in defining 'meithei'..........in manipuri language,'mei' means fire and no meaning of 'thei'....
What actually i am trying to say is that we can never get success in proving ourselves as originally manipuri as manipuris(meiteis) are already recognised even internationally and we have no evidence to prove ourselves as original manipuri as w dont have population,land,script(meiteis have recently made their script) etc.Rather we should emphasise on proving ourselves manipuri also being 'Bishnupriya Manipuri'.
By doing so, i believe we can achieve our goals.
Another Point made by henry Sinha is much logical and i support it of giving more importance to our community related topics instead of diluting it by including different topics which people are not much concernded while opening this blog as they have other better source for other issues. It is my request to Rishikesh Sinha to focus only on community related issues, otherwise community related issues will diluted upto some extent.
ReplyDeleteSinhga_skumar mentioned that Director of ICSSR is a Bishnupriya Manipuri so whatever written in any book can be taken as granted.I
ReplyDeletediffer on this, because no director is responsible directly for any book`s contents.Let Mr. Sinhga go through the books witten by various historians.List of authors are stiil available in this
blog in the form of comments made by Ashim Sinhga from Bangla Desh.
Mr.Sinhga mentioned Manipuri as Meithei which again I can not agree because whoever is/was living in Manipur is Manipuri.
Their language may not be meithei,
say for instance Nagas and
Kukis'.We have seen Chief Minister of Manipur from these community.
Absolutely, Rebati Pisha. Just because the source of an article is taken from ICSSR and just because the Director is a Bishnupriya Manipuri cannot mean the verdict is the ultimate truth or as you said doubtless. Just because Meities have a state of their own and we do not, does not mean we are not Manipuris. I refuse to buy this argument.I am not discouraged. Just because there is a government seal on a certain issue does not mean it is correct. There are laws of science, say a 100 years back were claimed as the ultimate truth. Today some of them are obsolete.
ReplyDeleteIndia was captured by the British once upon a time. That never ever meant, India was a part of the Kingdom. Even if it was for a certain period of time, the truth finally prevailed.
How come some authors, some non Bishnupriya Manipuri authors quote that we are Manipuris? The absolute truth ( whatever it is ) is yet to come out of the world.
As of now, I refuse to take this fact Bishnupriyas follow Manipuris. To me this statement makes no sense. Coming to the script, I believe ( read it from a source) our records have been burnt to ashes by a certain king. Our literature has been destroyed.
If thats the truth, then we have a right to know. Besides nobody has the right to call me a non Manipuri. Show me my origins. Show me with facts that I am not a Manipuri. Every fact in this life can be challenged. If some challenge us that we are not Manipuris, there also lies the fact that we equally have the right to challenge, that it is us who are the Manipuris. Not them. It is us. It us who have been driven away from Manipuri. It is us whose literature and existence have been abolished. It is us who are forced not to speak our mother tongue in some places. It is us who are forced in some states not to reveal our identity. It is us, whose personalities have been systemically oblivionised even after they had made spectacular contribution to the Manipuri culture. It is us whose 'existing' talent has been brainwashed to call themselves Meties and refuse the facts that they are Bishnupriya Manipuris.
I refuse what has been written in the article. I refuse to believe I am not a Manipuri.
Before taking or accepting anything written about us, let all of us read, understand all the sources - what has been written about us, what has been written about others, what is the credibility of the authors who have made the quotes, why do we think they are credible, why do we think they are not credible. High time, we read, analyse and then come to a conclusion. We should be cerebral and intelligent enough to challenge the given, if required so. The community is not a bunch of school kids who would be given a book and told whats right and wrong and asked to follow them blindly. We do not have a state. We do not have enough politicians. We dont have a beauracrats. We do not have the economics.But we do have some intellectual capacity. We have our self esteem. We have our belief in our ancestors, who said, people 'You are the Manipuris'.
ReplyDeleteI respect that voice.
Bana/Henryy
I beg Uncle Rebati Sinha and Henry Sinha's pardon to clarify that it is not at all mentioned in the book that bishnupriyas are not manipuris.
ReplyDeleteSome of the sentences from the book are, 'The Bishnupriyas are also a branch of Manipuri people. However, the Meiteis object the Bishnupriyas' claim to calling themselves as Manipuris. A great debate had been raging on the subject. No final decision has been arrived at. The Manipuris ( Meiteis ) base their arguments on linguistic and anthropology and theoretically speaking, they have many valid reasons to establish their view points. But the Bishnupriyas argumentation rests on culture and the contribution of Bishnupriyas' in propagating the Manipuri culture is significant to boot.'
So, it is not mentioned that bishnupriyas are not manipuris but are also a branch of manipuri and i strongly support it. I believe if we demand to get recognition as a branch of manipuri to be called 'bishnupriya manipuri',we will be successful. But if we claim to be original manipuri and demand our recognition, i strongly believe it will be nothing but waste. If this is so as claimed by some of our intellectuals, then why did not they oppose the central government in recognition of meitei as manipuri with valid reasons. Why they have been keeping quite till now. I expect these intellectuals to proceed to the central government and challenge them about the recognition of meitei as manipuri. Do they have valid proofs for this and if so why they are silent. At present, if some intellectuals of our community do still belief that we are original manipuri and not meitei, i strongly oppose them and request them not to deviate from the goal of our struggle to get recognition as 'bishnupriya manipuri' which is also a branch of manipuri but not claiming the word 'original manipuri', otherwise we have to prove that meiteis are not original manipuris and which i think is near to impossible under this circumstances. But if we some of our intellectuals believe that they can do, it is requested them to come forward with valid proofs, the whole mass is with you.
Otherwise just making an excuse as made by Henrida 'It is us whose literature and existence have been abolished' does not make any sense.
I do not know if all our people are clear with our goal to get recognition as 'bishnupriya manipuri' who hails from manipur originally and also a part of manipuri community and i strongly belief that we can achieve our goal with this objective. But struggling to get recognition of 'original manipuri' today will be nothing but a waste as we have to prove meitei as not original manipuri which is a crap.
May we have common objective and move ahead so that our efforts will be fruitful.
Jai Sadhubaba, Jai Bishnupriya Manipuri
I hate to react to an argument which fails to drive down any point but leads on to confuse issues or misguide people, with an intention or without an intention.
ReplyDeleteHowever this time around, since this pertains to a bigger territory and not an individual, I would react.
Firstly basics. Since this is not a personal blog,therefore everyone has a certain responsibility before posting any article which pertains to the community.
1. I dont think the article sent has been read properly before it has been posted.I strongly think so. Because if you have read and'read between the lines' it cues everywhere, in almost every paragraph that Bishnupriya and Manipuri are two different entities. No where it says we are Manipuris. But it DOES say somewhere that Meities are Manipuris. Read, "The Manipuris ( Meiteis ) base their arguments ...valid reasons to establish their view points."
This line, implies, indicates, that Meities are Manipuris and they have have got bloody valid reasons, therefore we do not. Therefore, automatically their claims are valid!
2. One question. What conclusion can someone come to after reading this article? What do you yourself think after reading this article, PROPERLY. We are trying to be Manipuris? We are not Manipuris? You have said, nowhere it has been mentioned we are NOT Manipuris. Then what does it say?
3. Read the last paragraph of the article,"The Bishnupriyas are very close linguistically to the Bengalis or Assamese but they follow the Manipuri culture. They are also Vaishnavites and their music and dances follow the same pattern of the Meiteis".
What does this paragraph indicate? What is the literal meaning of this paragraph? What conclusion do you draw after reading this last paragraph about us?
4. The headline of the article says, History of Bishnupriya Manipuri one must know. Hell. Where is the history my dear friend?
5. Your quote "It is us whose literature and existence have been abolished does not make any sense"
How on earth can you make such a statement? Dont you know it. If no, then its unfortunate. If yes, then it means you do not believe that whatever is said about our literature being destroyed is true. Therefor it is BASELESS! What makes you think this is baseless? On what basis. Just because it is not mentioned in the book accepted by your BIBLE the ICSSR? Would you have believed it if it was mentioned in this holy book? Perhaps yes. Human mind. Likes to be lead. In that case my dear friend, learn to question, learn to challenge the given to the right cause.Mr. Chatterjee from whose book the article has been taken, is NOT the ultimate expert. Many experts of his stature have been perplexed by the complexities of this issue.He has written things based on his observations. And observations of even hardcore professionals, MAY be wrong just to inform you. His book is his OBSERVATIONS. NOT FACTS.
Suggest click on the link, find out where it has been written that our literature has been destroyed, understand, then come out with a conclusion.
5. Again. Have you read the link, the articles that I have sent you? If yes, please do enlighten us what do you think about them? Have you tried to find out from where have they got the facts? Who has given the facts?
6. Very basic principle. Your headline says History about "Bishnupriya Manipuri one must know". What do you mean one MUST know? Does it mean that whats there in the article must be taken to word. Be accepted. Do we accept it as our history? Do you accept it as our history?
7. Your quote, "If this is so as claimed by some of our intellectuals, then why did not they oppose the central government in recognition of meitei as manipuri with valid reasons"
Santosh, when its being said, our literature has been destroyed we do not have valid reasons. As simple as that. The term 'valid reason' these days can be constructed, invented and suddenly discovered by historians these days if you understand the dynamics of politics.Its child's play for anyone with sufficient capabilities.
8. "Like the Manipuris the Bishnupriyas also constitute an ethnic minority in Barak Valley". What does this line mean?
If you say, "hey people, this is what has been written in a book accepted by ICSSR. See what you miserables feel about it.", its fine. BUT if you say this your history that you MUST know. I refuse point blank.I condemn this article if its meant to make me believe that it is my history. I refuse to believe that these are my facts. Because this article to me is very biased, very partial in its tone and content.
I have appreciated the EFFORT of posting this article which is to -create awareness amongst us, about us.Correct awareness.
I do not however support the PROPAGANDA or the argument that the content in this article is the ultimate truth or the correct history of the Bishnupriya Manipuri community.Because this is still a debate. This is an issue which needs more research. An impartial research. A transparent research. To me this is still a raging debate.
Any way Singha_Skumar has clarified in his statement that Bishnupriyas are Manipuris...ICSSR
ReplyDeleteCountry's highest court had given ruling in a case against Manipur Govt.that Bishnupriyas are Maniuris,then next whom to prove ourselves as Bishnupriya Manipuris?
He has raised a finger at intellectuals,why had they been keeping silence for long time.Here I would like to share a point or two...Our so called intellectuals are busy in in-fighting for their supremacy.From where do they get time for reading history and act accordingly.They don't believe in unity for, they don't come to a common platform to air their views(grievances).Now we have become splinter groups having hatred among us.There are so many Sabhas,Sansthas and unions;When ever some one interviews them,they never speak of future plan,program,on the contrary they boast of past deeds.We know one should not rest on one's past laurels.one should ask himself"what
have I done so far?"One should have
to look forward where as our intellectuals look backward,
blaming others.Can any one come accross how many of them really work for the community's up liftment?Now we have to start a fresh.
Thats great if there is a layer in the article which says Bishnupriyas are Manipuris.
ReplyDeleteYes. I agree as Rebati Pisha says, we have a defunct system within, which has failed miserably to grow so far. It has failed miserably to educate its youth. Therfore the doubts today. Therefore the confusion today. The Bishnupriya Manipuri youth would be proud of its roots only if it has sufficient self knowledge. Knowledge garners confidence, self belief. There are thousands of our youth today standing confused, in doubt because few have the sufficient knowledge about his/her community. Nobody knows whats happening to us. No one knows where we are heading to. Its not because they do want to know. Its because no one, none, no organization, no sabha, has been able to connect, include, inform, groom and educate its youth. I laud Pisha for acknowledging the facts. There is a huge conundrum happening, a rakhual of egos at play. Insane and pathetic it is. Yes it is time to start afresh. The youth on its own , without anybody's help, any Sabha's help can help itself on its own and do its own bits before taking the reins in its own hands. Soon.
1. Let us all go through whats written about us.
2. Lets no just read, lets read between the lines.We should READ, READ, READ.
3. Lets question. Lets question the possibilities.Let us not just accept whats written about us.
4. Lets read and know about the Meities too. Its important. There are many websites. Click there find out. Let each one us be loaded with knowledge.
5. Let us debate amonst ourselves. Peacefully ofcourse. Let logics clash, not egos.
6. We need people to record, tape our old people on what do they have to say about our origins. They are our living records.
I think someone should take some steps towards these issues soon. Ofcourse its not going to happen overnight, but we can definitely chart out a plan. It maybe a 2-3 year plan about creating awareness about ourselves amongst its youth. Educate the youth if you want us to take the legacy or our identity ahead.
It is time to get ourselves educated. I am sure we all can do it, if we want to.
Bana/Henryy