<div dir="ltr"><h1 class="entry-title">Common future of Manipur – a view from tribal languages perspective</h1><p class="entry-meta entry-post-info"><time class="entry-time" datetime="2017-01-28T02:45:47+05:30">Jan 28, 2017</time> <span class="gmail-viewed">137</span> <span class="entry-comments-link"><a href="https://www.thesangaiexpress.com/common-future-of-manipur-a-view-from-tribal-languages-perspective-2/#respond">0</a></span></p><div class="gmail-singleads"><ins class="gmail-adsbygoogle" style="display:block;height:280px"><ins id="gmail-aswift_1_expand" style="display:inline-table;border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color;height:280px;margin:0px;padding:0px;width:396px;background-color:transparent"><ins id="gmail-aswift_1_anchor" style="display:block;border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color;height:280px;margin:0px;padding:0px;width:396px;background-color:transparent"></ins></ins></ins></div><p>Ragongning Gangmei<br> From previous issue</p><p> Manipur’s Education Budget is anti-tribal Documents</p><p>
Manipur State Education Budget is not only an anti-tribal documents but
is a document of anti-common future of Manipur. The future of tribal
people are threatened in Manipur as far non-allocation of fund for
tribal languages in the State’s Budget of Education is concerned. Deeply
rooted state apathy of tribal languages and linguistic racism in
Manipur is largely seen in many ways and they are largely exhibited in
the State’s Budgets of Education Department, BOSEM, COHSEM, SCERT and
educational institutions.<br> As of now, no future is foreseen for
indigenous tribal languages and they are being eliminated from the
Common FutUre of Manipur. Therefore, the state apathy of tribal
languages is ruining the future of the tribal people in Manipur.<br> Manipur State Integrity and divine healing touch<br>
Manipur is making effort to uphold ‘state integrity’ without a thought
for common future of the people. In reality, state integrity without a
‘common future’ is not possible, and common future without the
indigenous linguistic communities of Manipur is unthinkable. Therefore,
the people and their languages should be given a proper place in the
making of Manipur’s today and tomorrow to make Manipur’s ‘state
integrity’ strong and firm.<br> Concerning ‘communal harmony’, Manipur
is suffering from chronic multi-organs failure since decades back.
Voices and slogans alone cannot heal the state from its chronic
ailments. The state needs a divine healing touch. “To heal the state’s
ailments, language touch shall be one of the most effective tools. When
languages are touched, every community is touched. When every community
is touched, the whole people of Manipur are being touched.” Because,
Manipur is a unity of diversity with multi-ethno and multilingual
communities. Therefore, to achieve a ‘common future’ and thereby ‘state
integrity’ the state government should adopt a language policy with a
holistic view of touching each and every language of indigenous people
of Manipur and putting them to the next sloth of the State Language
Manipuri (Meiteilon).<br> Destabilized Social Order in Manipur<br> In
Manipur bundhs, blockades, rallies, dharnas, agitations are the
everyday’s social orders since decades ago and till today. In Manipur
civil society organisations are mushrooming. Agitations outnumbered the
days. No single day is passed off without rallies, dharnas, killings,
arrests. Manipur state is divided among the tens of insurgent groups who
are spearheading demands for homeland, independence,
self-determination, integration to other states, etc. Usually, such
elements are the outcomes of people’s frustrations of the state’s
administration.<br> In Manipur many aspirations of the people or
communities cannot see the light of the day due to the indifferent
attitude of the successive ruling state giovernments that hardly
attended to the wills and aspirations, pulses and feelings of the
communities of the state. The successive state governments cannot see
the whole communities of Manipur. Therefore, as of now, Manipur has
become a land of people’s frustrations for many, particularly, the
tribal language communities because of state apathy and linguistic
racism. The tribal linguistic communities feel that they are always
sidelined, neglected and alienated. They are not given state patronage
for promotion of their languages. They feel they don’t have a place of
dignity, pride and honour (phidaa) in the state they lived in. This is a
negative impact created in the minds of tribal linguistic communities.
These are the doings of the state administration.<br> All the facts and
circumstances stated above are some of the reasons that used to
destabilize the traditional cordial relationship of the hills and the
valley. In fact, there is no enmity between the hills people and the
valley people in the state. The seeming ‘hills-valley divide’ is the
outcome of the inefficient state administration only. This is also an
unwanted social order in Manipur since decades ago and till today.<br> The need of a New Social Oreder in Manipur<br> CTLLSM dreams of a new social order, to usher in Manipur. By new social order we mean –<br> (i) a society free from bundhs, blockades, rallies, dharnas and agitations;<br> (ii) a society of peaceful co-existence with love, dignity, understanding, confidence, respect and concern for each other;<br> (iii) a society of common belongingness to the state with a common future for all; and<br> (iv) a government that is efficient, competent, free from corruptions and that works on good system of administration<br>
(v) all communities friendly government that sees all communties of the
state, has equal concern for all of them and committed to work for
them.<br> To usher in a new social order in Manipur, we need a unity of
the indigenous linguistic communities of the state. To achieve a unity
of indigenous linguistic communities of Manipur, we need to provide each
and every linguistic community an equal place of dignity, pride and
honour (maannaba phidaa in the state) especially in the matter of their
languages (mother tongues) because language is the future of a
community. And they should be made to feel the common belongingness to
the State. We believe that unity of the indigenous linguistic
communities of the state would strengthen the bond of unity and mutual
understanding of the people, intercommunities cordial relationship and
peaceful co-existence of all in Manipur; and this will again usher in ‘a
new social order’ in the state – that may be a Little Heaven on earth
for all of us, that is our cherished hope. That is the beauty of the
unity of all linguistic communities and the foundation for the ‘Common
Future’ we dreamt of.<br> Now is the time to work out our common future :<br>
Now is the time to work out a common future for all communities living
in Manipur. The presence of each and every community in the state should
be made felt. Each and every community should have a place of dignity,
pride and honour (phidaa) in the state. Thereby, common belongingness to
the state should be made felt to all communities of the state.<br> With
a view to achieving a common future of all communities of Manipur, the
state government should take up the followings, as special arrangement,
on priority basis.<br> (i) A holistic Language Promotion Programme for
each and every linguistic community should be taken up. Each and every
linguistic community should have a place of dignity, pride and honour.
Rules or procedures for language approval should be made easy,
restriction on population should be stopped. Fund should be properly
allocated for each and every linguistic community for promotion of their
language. Each and every linguistic community should be given
opportunity for learning their mother tongue in the schools and
colleges. Language-wise fund allocation should be done for development
and production of educational textbooks. Fund for language development,
trainings, seminars, workshops and administrative grants should be given
to the literature societies of the linguistic communities.<br> (ii) A
holistic Culture Promotion Programme for each and every indigenous
community should be taken up by community-wise allocation of fund in the
state budget. Fund should be allocated for every community for culture
house, annual main cultural festival, documentation of cultural
traditions, production of traditional costumes, training of traditional
performing arts, etc. Equal opportunity should be given to each and
every community for promotion of their customary practices – culture and
languages.<br> (iii) State government should have a sincere commitment
to enforce Reservation Policy for the weaker sections of people for
recruitments of job and promotion, admission and any sort of selections.
No advanced people should have jealousy of it.<br> (iv) Festivals:<br> (a) Sangai Festival :<br>
State Festivals like Sangai Festival should be observed for 12 days.
the first 2 days shall be celebrated as cultural festival of all
communities at every district headquarters. Then the main functional
shall be held at Imphal for 10 days as usual accommodating cultural
programme of all communities of Manipur.<br> (b) Indigenous Communities Festival of Manipur:<br>
We appreciate the League of Fourth World People of Kangleipak (LFWPK)
for organising Indigenous Brothers Meet every year since 2000 A.D.The
State government should organise a state level festival of indigenous
communities of Manipur in the model of the LFWPK’s ‘Indigenous Brothers
Meet’. The festival may be called ‘Indigenous Communities Festival of
Manipur’ and all communities of Manipur shall participoate with their
tradtional custom and culture at the festival.<br> (iv) Re-organisation
and functionalization of Departments: To implement the points raised
above, the state government should reorganise the following traditional
departments to grow and transform into modern institutions with a view
to accommodating the visions, aims and objectives of the Common Future
of Manipur.<br> (a) Education Department and its related institutions – SCERT, COHSEM, BOSEM, schools, colleges, universities, etc.;<br> (b) Art & Culture Department and its related institutions – MSKA, JNDA, MDDC, MFDC, etc.<br> (c) Department of Tribal Affairs and its related institutions like TRI, MTDC, etc.<br> (d) Department of Sports and Youth Affiars and its institutions;<br> (e) Department of Information and Public Relations;<br> (f) Media Houses – both print and electronic. (v) We need change of Outlooks:<br>
To achieve a Common Future of the people and to promote it in the state
at the times to come, we need certain changes in the outlooks of the
people and the state government as suggested herebelow:<br> (a) to change from the authoritarian/ruling government’s outlook to that of all-communties’ friendly Government;<br> (b) to change from the outlook of government seeing administration to that of all-communitiees seeing administration; and<br> (c) to change from self-centred outlook of the people to that of common-belongingness to the State.<br>
The best campaign for state integrity, unity and peaceful co-existance
of the people in the state is to work for a common future of Manipur.<br>
When a common future for all communities in the state is assured, who
else shall be demanding for a separate homeland or separate
administrative unit or independence or soveriegnty or alternative
arrangement?<br> When there is a common future for all communities in the state, there shall be no hills-valley divide.<br>
When there is a common future for all communities in the state, Manipur
shall be one of the most peaceful states in the north-east India.<br>
This write-up, in the best interest of the whole Manipur, is a humble
submission of the CTLLSM to the people and the State Government of
Manipur for taking a good decision taking into consideration all the
points raised above for building our future – a better and well knitted
common future of Manipur covering all the people and all the linguistic
communities in the State.<br> The CTLLSM wants every community lives with dignity, pride and honour in the state of Manipur.<br>
Discover the joy of sowing the seed of unity of indigenous linguistic
communities of Manipur and experience the miracle of reaping the harvest
of Common Future of the state through the unity of indigenous
linguistic communities of Manipur.<br> The forthcoming Elections to the
11th Manipur State Assembly, 2017 is a good time for everyone of us to
take a decision for electing good leaders having commitment to build a
common future for all language communities in Manipur. (Concluded)<br> (The writer is the chairman of Council of Tribal Languages and Literature Societies, Manipur)</p><p><a href="https://www.thesangaiexpress.com/common-future-of-manipur-a-view-from-tribal-languages-perspective-2/">https://www.thesangaiexpress.com/common-future-of-manipur-a-view-from-tribal-languages-perspective-2/</a><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
</div>