Let History And Facts Speak About Manipuris: Book Review

By RK Rishikesh Sinha

It is pathetic that we all have been consuming in the name of ‘history’, the ‘traditional history’ i.e., the ‘history seen from above’ which is concerned almost exclusively with the political, social, and religious elites, and the history of the major communities. Our mind is full of this ‘history seen from above’ stuff, and it is empty with ‘history seen from below’ i.e., the history of common people; a history which is concerned with the activities and thoughts of those people and regions and even communities that were neglected by the so-called official historians.

The book Let History And Facts Speak About Manipuris, authored by Bhim Sen Singha and published by Nikhil Bishnupriya Manipuri Sahitya Sabha Parishad in 1984, is one such book which throws light in this direction i.e., from the perspective of Bishnupriya Manipuri community to its identity crisis.

The 50-page portrait size book gives an interesting read to the history of Bishnupriya Manipuri up to early 1980s. What is more riveting about this book is that it was published at the time when Assam was passing through a tumultuous period and the Bishnupriya Manipuri language struggle was at its peak.

More than that, what is more stirring and stimulating to read about this book is that it is not a figment of author’s imagination or his created hypotheses. The book is interlaced with facts, and facts from history. It comes as a concise compendium of sources and references of Bishnupriya Manipuri history.

The book will jolt you, will astound you, with its speedy layout. Intermeshed with characters of contemporary world and official letters, a reader will find that he or she is very near to all the events that get unfold page-after-page in the book. This book will supposedly end any misconception to a reader whose intellectual growth or understanding about the great Bishnupriya Manipuri language struggle is based on oral tradition.

Extending this thought, the book Let History And Facts Speak About Manipuris, supposedly breaks all the myths that are presented in the name of ‘history’ to the world about the Bishnupriya Manipuri community. It is an eye-opener to all the writers and authors who pen down without research about the community to read it at least read once from the few available books. 

Task

The book Let History And Facts Speak About Manipuris is out of print. Hope, very few copies are available that too under the custody of private bookshelf.

Readers of this blog could help this book to go public.

The book has been completely photographed (and will be converted to text by me).

They have to correct the ‘converted’ text. That’s all.

The number of pages: 45

Format: Portrait

Readers can send their request with their email ID, the number of pages they are willing to work. Visit Contact Us page.