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Seere Seere Shinglei, Kacha Rokot Sitadei

Leaders of a dynamic composite like the Students Union need people who are well versed with politics, economics, culture, literature and global happenings. We need student leaders who can deftly converse with a student or a bureaucrat or a politician across multi levels. We need student leaders who are not just good individuals but are also well qualified academically. Let us stop this voluntary ignorance.


By Henryy Sinha, New Delhi

I still remember that serene sea. The sea of three thousand human voices that rose with the defiance of a tidal wave, erupting and then splashing the air with fiery words that burnt the noon sky.

‘ Seere Seere Shinglei,

Kacha Rokot Sitadei’

It's been more then 10 years now. The sea remains as serene as ever. Silent. Passive.
But the voices, the three thousand voices, have been drowned to death into the labyrinth of our consciousness. The Nikhil Bishnupriya Manipuri Students Union, once upon a time, the lifeline of the community, is now a corpse. A lifeless corpse. I can see its blood smeared in your hands and mine. A post mortem examination of this dead body would reveal some important findings.
The findings will say the death of the NBMSU is essentially a case of suicide and murder.

Many of us have helplessly witnessed the grand mindlessness that the NBMSU had displayed right after one single successful demonstration. From thereon, it was done continuously with a stupid arrogance that later transformed into sheer shamelessness. It was a pervert butchering of hopes that the Union had subjected the entire Bishnupriya Manipuri community to. The community, the youth was conveniently made to accept that the role of a Student's Union starts and ends with a rail block or a road block. Soon it became an era when NBMSU was synonymous to only one word. 'Strike'. Only strike. Period. Result? A complete generation was paraded to ignorance and cultural impotence. Yes, you said it right. It was the in the 90s, the Union performed this perfect Hara Kiri for itself and the community.
In the process an optimism to set things right was blurred by the shortsightedness of the Union.
We missed the bus.

Our youth, our students could have been oriented on our culture, language, history at the grass root levels which I feel IS the biggest need of our community even today. Injecting into our youth, cultural and historical hygiene is, I repeat, the biggest need of the Bishnupriya Manipuri community. Today out of 100 students, 90 students do not know our history. The remaining 10 aren't sure about what they know.
The Bishnupriya Manipuri youth is in a dilemma how and where to voice an opinion or whom to pose a question. Leaders could have been groomed and trained to chart the way forward for the entire community. The cultural energy of the community could have been given a boost by the Union. In a nutshell, the Students Union could have led the Bishnupriya Manipuri youth to a constructive direction. Unfortunately none of this happened. Strategies were misplaced. Intentions were flaccid. True leaders were absent. This suicide was inevitable.

Apart from the self inflicted hemorrhage of the Union, what led to its indefinite hibernation is our decision to remain as mute spectators. Our mute spectatorship has given us wrong leaders to lead an entity like the Students Union. Have we ever questioned on what basis, we have chosen our Students Union leaders? What are their qualifications, their credibility and their talent? What is their vision for the Bishnupriya Manipuri youth or the Bishnupriya Manipuri community? Do they at all, have a vision? Do we know who is the President of the NBMSU? If yes, why is he the President? How old is he? How qualified is he?

Questions my brother, please ask questions. Or else you will be robbed, embarrassed and abused.

Leaders of a dynamic composite like the Students Union need people who are well versed with politics, economics, culture, literature and global happenings. We need student leaders who can deftly converse with a student or a bureaucrat or a politician across multi levels. We need student leaders who are not just good individuals but are also well qualified academically. Let us stop this voluntary ignorance. It will be cathartic for you, me and our youth. True, we are a minority. True we are a financially crunched community. True, we don’t have political patronage. True, we have a huge brigade of unemployed, illiterates. But Bishnupriya Manipuris are not complete idiots. We have students getting into IITs, IIMs (miniscule so what?), medical schools, engineering colleges, mass communication, technical institutes and the works. Can’t we choose a few good individuals to lead the youth? We can. Definitely if YOU, the students intent to.
Collectively lets us identify and understand where we have gone wrong, why we have gone wrong. Let us confess. Step ahead, YOU, the students take the initiative to set the Union in order. Don’t fall in the ‘Jetar Shokhi, Utar Gopi’ scheme of things. Apply your mind and to some extent, your courage too.

Please don’t elect a bunch of 40 year olds to lead the NBMSU, ever again.

Please don’t choose mindless individuals to lead the Bishnupriya Manipuri youth, to lead you.

Please, don’t choose those, who wish to be leaders. Choose those, who are leaders.

You, the Bishnupriya Manipuri youth deserve it.

In fact, you need it.
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Comments

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bishnupriya manipuri,i only knew that this community was a minority in our state. I am an assamese, so i know a bit of Bishnupriya too. I have some good freinds but never knew that they had suffered for so long. Besides, we never knew that NBMSU, such an organization existed. In a politically volatile state such as Assam, the need of the hour for the community is to look for leaders, who can inject a sense of urgency to all the students of community. Yes, i fully agree with the author, that there is a need to understand the history of this community. Ultimately, it is the community which has to unite and come together.
    Aabeer..

    ReplyDelete
  3. True Ranjan NBMSU could have been a very very strong Student's Union of the country. Because it has burning issues to stand for. We need to work things out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Student Union haan honkoranika ere ela ehan dena laktoi:

    Teinta Teinta

    Feita haabi sesei ta

    Teinta Teinta

    Nua rokot borei ta

    Teinta Teinta

    Hoba manu daho ta

    Teinta Teinta

    Hai Kaam khani koro ta....

    ReplyDelete
  5. Was this "Seere Seere Shinglei,Kacha Rokot Sitarei"a slogan of so called Nikhil Bishnupriya Manipuri Student Union?How come an organization used the word Nikhil(world)which had never crawled beyond Barak valley? One thing is very much clear:where their is money,there is plenty of people to work for Union &,there is no source of fund collection,
    there is no Union.
    I could`nt agree with Mr Henryy that once NBMSU was a life line of BM society.An Organization fighting for recognition of
    language can not be termed as life line of the society,yes now we can say,lifeless corpse.It is said leaders are born,not made.
    I agree with Henryy
    about society`s cold shoulders towards the Bhasha Andolan,really they were the silent spectators during and after the Andolan otherwise society would not have lost the precious lives of student.
    After 16 years of police firing,till today,there is no F.I.R
    lodged against the police.It had happened because of poor leadership
    and non cooperation of society.
    When there is no case being heard or pending,how come the
    S.U.president is claiming that the compensation for police firing victims, is due from Govt? Any compensation is granted either on agreement or the case fought and won by the aggrieved party.Our society is so selfish,they did not fight the case for the dead and wounded,on the contrary,they did their duty by conferring 'Shaheed' on dead.What a shame!Parents of dead and wounded could not get any justice;but to console themselves, hearing the word Shaheed.
    Pardon me,I was bit sentimental,and derailed myself from the topic.My new slogan is
    "Where there is unity,there is productivity."

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just to clarify myself Rebati Pisha, 'Seere ..Sitadei' was not a slogan of the Union. It never was. But it was a slogan that has been used by the Union many times during their demonstrations in Cachar.
    Further when I said lifeline, it was essentially directed at the students, youth. True the Union was never never strong as an entity. But there was a big opportunity the Union missed due to mismangement from within and a strong monitoring from outside. It was that time when the community felt that the Student Union would be our redemption. Unfortunately the trust was broken. And yes, as Pisha told correctly the Union was not groomed, trained, monitored at all by the community leadership. I hope that changes.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The main isssue here is to make a proper Students Union. The SU would take the responsibiltiy of the BM youngsters.The SU has done enough damage for itself.
    A new SU is required now.

    A responsible leadership should guide the youngsters to make a new SU transparently. Dismantle the current Union. No use blaming Omuk and Tomuk. What is the way ahead now?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Good article Henry. I agree in our context the SU could have been the lifeline of our Samaj regardless of whether we are fighting for our language or not. SU if played its role correctly it could have been like the AASU.
    We have seen 'non-students' being members of the Students Union, collecting money. How qualified is an Anil Rajkumar or a Baichu Shing to lead the SU? Sunil is right. Dismantle the existing SU.

    ReplyDelete
  9. You have just said what I wanted to Nilkanto.SU was busy doing something else...

    ReplyDelete
  10. 16 years without asking for justice? Where was the then SU leader? Shameful.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is the breakaway group of Mahasabha controlled NBMSU.How come this group claimed NBMSU as their new avatar.What Mahasabha doing all these days?It should have objected to use of this name by this break away group.NBMSU is constitutionally a wing of Mahasabha,then how it be allowed to run independently by a breakaway group?
    As i mentioned earlier and
    some of my friends also hinted here
    that money was the main attraction.
    One example I would like to give here for the support of my friends:
    During Andolan days so called students workers of the Union came to my house for collection.They were not known to any of my family members.On my rigorous questionig,
    they had to spill the beans.They were not from our Narsingpur pargonas.They were from Bikrampur.
    They were non students and they did
    not meet any Student Leaders of our
    Narsingpur.I shall not blame this gang,instead blame the giver.Anyway
    these were the modus operandi.The
    SU president`s age is now above 50. years.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Henry wrote correctly. It is a case of both 'murder and suicide'. Shri Anil started thinking about himself as the a big politician by just one successful demonstration.
    While the Mahasabha of the 90s were doing nothing but sitting quite? It did not monitor at all.

    Yes Rebati mama you are correct there was a trend of collecting money randomly.Now we should stop lending money to the Union.

    ReplyDelete
  13. A students forum always should be independent of any influence of political parties.....Like the AASU's modus operandi in the early days of formation. But in India we see most of the so called students organisation like NSUI, ABVP, SFI, CP ... all are integral part of any or the other political organisation.. and the leaders of the forums in general are the highest sycophant awardee....And finally the students forum ends up with a silly job of formulating the ill will of their high commands...instead of doing any constructive work towards the youths or the society... Same practice we had been noticing also in case of NBMSU... the so called by birth who is who of NBMSU .. also were busy implementing the objectives of the big bosses of the socio political organisation , here NBMM to be precise in our case... And the result is we have a President who obtained the right to lead the forum untill the last breath he takes.. Age absolutely no bar......We have noticed that when these leaders were at their students age.. there were some significant work took place... and as they became grant parents... the organisation lost all its objectives and its stature and activity plummeted like a comet pace....

    Very few of us can name the leaders of any students forum exits in India… as we can only identify them as wings of their origin political party….

    In case of our community , I believe there is an urgent and burning need of transformation or restructuring the existing organizations may be NBMM or SU, and also there is a need of induction and inculcation modern open minded educated youths and also their ideas…..

    We must understand and agree on … “ Change Is Constant”….
    And the most in thing in the world post US election… is …. “Yes We Can”…..

    ReplyDelete
  14. Well said BN.
    All our leaders are like that.Though Mr. Jagat Mohan was a pioneer and a spirited leader but he too was power hungry. Mr. Monoranjan was busy into 'Loya Politics'. Mr. Manoranjan was the President of the NBMM when this SU was in flow.
    What had he done in his capacity? Why was he sitting quite with the Sudeshna thing?

    NBMM today has at least has reached a certain strong position today only because of a dynamic team like Mr. Rebati Sinha,Dr. D K Sinha, Uday Sinha, Jogendra Singha, Gopinath Sinha, Lakhindra Sinha. It is because of the current team that at least NBMM is not a lifeless corpse.

    At least there is some movement today.Change is constant you are right.

    But it is more important in the case of NBMSU

    ReplyDelete
  15. Henryy Girok!!!!!!!!!!

    marvellous!!!!

    yes, i totally agree with you we must start post matoming the issue. then only we will come to know where do we went wrong so that this canot be repeated again and again...

    let us rejuvenate it...

    Rishi has correctly we can prepare a little Obama condition at least we get acknowledge the present scenario.

    ReplyDelete
  16. thaks ranjan, obai itao,sunil, niklkanta, and BN

    ReplyDelete

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