Tonghen Kipgen's diary on the demand for the creation of a seperate Sadar Hills District in Manipur exposes Intra-inter communal conflict and systematic structural discrimination , says Ninglun Hanghal
The agitation for the creation of a separate Sadar Hills district in
Manipur started 40 years ago. In his book Sadar Hills Movement (Spectrum
Publication, Guwahati), Tonghen Kipgen recounts how the demand
eventually became a mass movement. The journey began as an appeal for
implementation of the government of Manipur (Department of Planning and
Development) notification vide No 18/1/71-SC of 14/2/1972 and Manipur
Gazette No 28/1/71 dated 14/02/1972.
All successive governments, right from the creation of the state in
1972, bypassed the Sadar Hills autonomous district council while five
other such councils, created under the Manipur (Hill Areas) Autonomous
District Council Act, 1971, were upgraded to a district.
Born in 1973, Kipgen is as old as the struggle that saw him becoming a
student leader. He was made general secretary of the Sadar Hills
Districthood Demand Committee in 2011. The struggle that began from 1974
onwards is divided into two phases — the first non- violent till 2010;
the second, the public movement in 2011, also called the 123 Days of
Agitation, caused a massive public uproar that brought Manipur to a
standstill with economic blockades imposed along the NH-39 and NH-53
from 31 July till 1 November. Besides deaths and injuries, there was
massive destruction of infrastructure and vehicles.
In a candid diary written in “layman’s” language, Kipgen states that
the “Sadar Hills movement” should not be conveniently clubbed into the
category of “tribal, agrarian, or a separatist movement”. It is made out
to be “complicated” and “complex”, but is not a matter of conflict of
interest or disagreement between parties as dissected and observed by
critics or analysts, he feels. He reveals that the demand committee
members were criticised, demoralised by several quarters and were even
threatened by state and non-state actors.
Kipgen’s diary reveals more than just a list of events, or a series of
agitations, meetings, memorandums or official recordings. It exposes
intra-inter communl conflict and systematic structural
discrimination. Sadar Hills is inhabited by Nepalis, Pangals (Manipuri
Muslims), Meiteis, different Naga tribes, whom the author calls “Kacha
Nagas”, and the majority community, the Thadou-Kukis, who are in the
forefront of the movement.
Geographically sandwiched between valley districts inhabited by the
Meiteis and hill districts with predominantly Nagas, the two majority
communities in Manipur who are at loggerheads, the volatile and
vulnerable Sadar Hills ADC area became a “laboratory” of ethnic and
communal politics, blame games and, most of all, a classic case of the
state’s apathy and indifference.
A commendable and remarkable gesture found in Kipgen’s record is the
letter to the United Naga Council and the Naga People’s Organisation by
the demand committee before commencing the 2011 protest. The letter, in
the form of an appeal, reads, “Time has come for our unity and
unflagging journey towards attaining justice… and stand with us.” While
Kipgen does not mention receiving any response/reply, the diary notes
the reaction of the UNC and the All Naga Students Association, Manipur,
over the creation of Sadar Hills district, which says that “districts
cannot be created by means of carving out/cutting parts of Nagas’ land
in the state… Government should not pursue policies and plans to bring
differences among the tribals in Manipur”.
Moreover, the infamous bloody Naga-Kuki feud in the early 1990s was
“conveniently” used as the main argument point of debate or rather a
contention on the creation of Sadar Hills district by both the
government and intellectuals, the valley-based civil society to be
specific. Kipgen recalls that at several seminars held in Imphal on the
issue, nobody was in favour of Sadar Hill district. He further mentions
that a stern statement came from a valley underground group that said
Sadar Hills district could only be created after a proper demarcation of
boundaries.
Three-time state chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh told the demand
committee that Sadar Hills district could not be created in haste due to
the sensitivity of the issue, meaning opposition by the Nagas. At one
of the meetings chaired by the chief minister himself during the height
of the 2011 agitation, he proposed to the team to form a “committee on
reorganisation of administrative and police boundary” for the whole
state.
Besides attempts to divert the issue, the book records an odd blame
game played by politicians. Manipur’s first chief minister Allimuddin,
in 1972, defended himself saying that the inauguration of Sadar Hills
district could not take place because the area’s legislator did not
sound the traditional gong as a sign of allegiance. In the 1997, when W
Nipamacha Singh was chief minister, he accused “Kuki ministers” of not
coming up with a location for district headquarters. The same year, it
may be noted, a smooth transition took place; Imphal West and East
District were bifurcated. The two districts border the Sadar Hills.
Kipgen believes that the Sadar Hills can be transformed into a model
district of vibrant diversity, which will further help consolidate the
state’s integrity. He raises many questions that may remain unanswered.
Nevertheless, the mass response and the spirit witnessed in the 2011
agitation does not seem to die down, “not so soon”.
In the concluding chapter, Kipgen writes “... the worst phase of trouble
would erupt if opposition to the Sadar Hills persists.” Quoting Jinnah
and the two-nation theory, and drawing inspiration from the 1916 armed
insurrection in Dublin, a poorly supported, weak movement that gained
strength due to the violent reaction by the British government and led
to the creation of an Irish state in 1922, Kipgen states that “a system
may respond vigorously to challenges which may set in motion a chain of
events that the government was seeking to avoid”.
In fact, Kipgen’s own tone and use of language subsequently moved on
from a non-political to a political one towards the end, a reassertion
of his introductory statement, “creation of Sadar hills is not
politics... But the political methods and motives ultimately caused
Sadar Hills to become a political issue”.
Tonghen Kipgen lives at Kangpokpi (Sadar Hills). He was president of
the Kuki Students’ Organisation (Gen Hq) and spokesperson of the All
Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur. He was general secretary of the Sadar
Hill District Demand Committee during the peak of the movement in 2011.
The Statesman NE page , November 25,2013
