A guided tour of 'outer' India

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Maloy Krishna Dhar started life off as a junior reporter for Amrita Bazaar Patrika in Calcutta and a part-time lecturer. He joined the Indian Police Service in 1964 and was permanently seconded to the Intelligence Bureau.

During his long stint in the Bureau, Dhar saw action in almost all Northeastern States, Sikkim, Punjab and Kashmir. He also handled delicate internal political and several counterintelligence assignments. After retiring in 1996 as joint director, he took to freelance journalism and writing books. Titles credited to him are Open Secrets-India's Intelligence Unveiled, Fulcrum of Evil – ISI, CIA, al-Qaeda Nexus, and Mission to Pakistan. Maloy is considered a top security analyst and a social scientist who tries to portray Indian society through his writings.

Have you ever heard of places like Somdal, Chapkikarong, and Soraphung?

To many, they might not even sound Indian. But they are areas in the Indian State of Manipur.

The Indian Army and paramilitary forces took over three months (November 07 to February 2008) to partially recapture the sensitive Somdal area on the Indo-Myanmar border from hordes of Meitei (Manipuri Hindus) rebel groups.

Chapkikarong, a beautiful valley near the Burma border, is still infested by the Meitei and assorted Kuki rebel groups.

Soraphung, on the Manipur-Nagaland border, and close to Myanmar, is a stronghold of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) or NSCN (I-M).

The Naga imbroglio is a long story. But Manipur, where I conduct your tour now, is a far more complicated and longer story.

The kingdom of Manipur was merged with India in 1949. Since then, the Jewel of the East has rarely witnessed peace.

Several complicated factors contributed to the rise and consolidation of separatist outfits in Manipur since early sixties. The valley (700 sq miles) was mostly inhabited by Meitei Vaishnavite Hindus. The hills were traditional homes of assorted Naga tribes (about 15) and tribes of Kuki-Chin-Lushai origin (about 20). It is a vast, kaleidoscopic confluence of humans and bountiful nature.

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I cannot guide you to Loktak, the Dal Lake of the East. The vastness, depth and rippling beauty of the water body has shrunk, and very few Siberian and Chinese birds migrate to the area during winter.

I cannot take you to Bishenpur (Vishnupur) to see the neglected 7th century Vishnu image created by the craftsmen of the Hindu Abha kingdom of Myanmar. Some stray terrorist bullets might hit you and me.

If I can manage a police escort, it may be possible to guide you to Moirang Lakeview, where Netaji Subhash Bose had set up Azad Hind Government’s headquarters on Indian soil. The memorial lies in neglect.

A drive up to the border smuggling towns of Tengnoupal and Tamu is fraught with danger. There are distinct possibilities of Naga, Kuki or Meitei underground gangs kidnapping us for a hefty ransom.

Would you like to travel to Tussom Khullen, Chassad and Toipoi? Rather risky. These tracts in Ukhrul’s Tangkhul Naga areas are administered by the NSCN (I-M) instead of the government of Manipur. You might have to pay local taxes to the Naga rebels for a bumpy journey to the remote villages on Myanmar borders.

However, the breathtaking beauty of the Ukhrul Naga Hills might tempt you to drop into a village, chat with the khullakpa (headman), witness wonderful dances and listen to Church carols. I wish I could guide you through the beautiful terrains in Ukhrul as well as Tamenglong and Thanlon-Parbung Hills.

However, I wouldn’t recommend setting up a business, take a government job or set up a professional practice either in the valley or in the hills.

The terrorists demand hefty monthly dues and casual “taxes” from all earning members. Besides professionals and traders, even ministers of and senior government officials are subjected to moral policing and heavy taxation.

During a recent visit to the valley, an old friend whispered that Manipur – perhaps like most other States in India – has a unique system of wealth sharing. Out of rupees one hundred, the political bosses take a cut of 25 per cent, the bureaucrats about 10 per cent, terrorists over 20 per cent.

But even the remaining 50 per cent does not reach the Aam Aadmi. Out of plan and non-plan budget, the lowest creatures in the democratic system can expect only 15 per cent of the allocated amount. The rest disappear in the jungles inhabited by animals called contractors, babus, local political dadas and fringe militants.

Let us continue the tour with a visit to the colourful “Ima Keithel”, or shopping vends managed by women. The land of Chitrangada still practices steady participation by women in all spheres of life.

But I won’t dare taking you to Keisampat Leirak (lane) for a sumptuous Meitei feast, which often consists of 80 items of fish, vegetables and lentil eaten with sticky rice, with the finale of a plate of sweet black rice pudding.

Not that the Meiteis are inhospitable. They are an excellent warm-hearted people.

But neither I nor your Leirak host can assure your physical safety. You and I might end up at the wrong end of a Kalashnikov, or walk out only after paying a hefty ransom.

However, I won’t disappoint you by denying you chance meetings with exquisitely beautiful Manipuri belles selling handloom products, as they go about in colourful dresses on their mopeds and bicycles.

Despite the multiple layers of dark clouds hanging over their heads and lives, the Meitei women keep their cool and greet you with smiling faces. But don’t even dream of making unsolicited advances. Meitei women are known for their valour and fighting mettle.

I might remind you of the Second Nupi (women) Lan (war) of Manipur. Nupi Lan is one of the important movements in the history of Manipuri women. It sowed the new seeds of economic and political reforms for a new Manipur in the early 1940s. It was started in 1939 as an agitation by Manipuri women against the oppressive economic and administrative policies of the Manipur Maharaja and the British Political Agent – Mr Gimson (1933-45) in Manipur. The incident later evolved into a movement for the constitutional and administrative reform in Manipur.

The role of Manipuri women in the agrarian economy of Manipur is crucial, right from the involvement in the production to the selling and marketing of food grains. They manage most of the internal trade of food and clothing and they hold a free standard of living in the society. They are the most important buyers and sellers in the main market Khwairamband Bazaar – a bazaar which was founded by Khagemba Maharaj in 1580, and which is also known as Ima Keithel. This bazaar was where Nupi Lan had initially started.

The Meitei women still maintain the tradition of Chitrangada, who had humbled the third Pandava, Arjun. I would advise you to be especially respectful to Meitei women and not treat them as chattel, as is the wont in other parts of urban-rural India.

That is another reason, besides the fear of insurgents, that prevents me to take you to some picture postcard village in Thoubal or Angou foothills to witness fabulous Manipuri dances like varieties of Pung Cholom (Ras Lila), Achouba Bhangi Pareng, Khrumba Bhangi Pareng, Lai Haraoba and Natrasankirtana etc. Manipuri dances have attained classical perfection and folk innovation. However, if you are lucky I can guide you to the Gobindji Temple, where traditional dances are performed during Basant Ras and other festivals.

It might also be possible to guide you to Mao Songsong and the mountain heights below Japhu Hills, which often have fine layers of snow in the winters.

The Naga tribes of Mao, Maram are very hospitable and you might be able to share a fine dinner of roasted pork, spicy venison, chunky beef, roasted bee larva, rice cooked inside hollowed bamboo stems served with madhu (mild rice beer) or ruhi (strong rice or millet beer). If you are lucky the village belles of Ruvunamei and Kalinamei might stage a colourful Naga dance in the courtyard of the village Church.

Dear visitors, I am not trying to either allure or frighten you. Manipur indeed is the Kashmir of the East, though several layers of lustre have peeled off during the last 60 years.

My hesitation in taking you deep into the beauties of Manipur arises out of the raging insurgency/terrorism in the valley and the hills.

There are nearly 25 insurgent groups in the tiny State, including three headed by valley Muslims. Important Meitei insurgent groups are, Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), Manipur People's Liberation Front (MPLF), People's Liberation Army (PLA), People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), and United National Liberation Front (UNLF).

The Meitei outfits, who want Manipur’s sovereignty restored, carry out their activities from bordering areas of Myanmar. They are well entrenched in the pats (villages), leikais (areas) and leiraks (lanes) and flourish in the heart of the State capital.

Chances are, you did not read the news items about the explosion caused by the KYKL inside the State Assembly, the arrest of a few insurgents from the residence of a government minister, and similar incidents. After all, who cares about a part of ‘outer’ Indian territory called Manipur?

I don’t think your editor would spare more space to me to elaborate the deep-rooted reasons for a Hindu Vaishnava community taking up arms against a Hindu majority India.

These are very complex issues which arose out of big brotherly attitude of the “mayangs” (outsider Indians), non- and bad governance, severe economic imbalance, an inability to strike a balance between the Valley Hindus and Hill tribals and to adequately and satisfactorily remove the Meitei fear of creation of a greater Nagaland (Nagalim), as demanded by the Naga insurgent outfits.

Most of these complexities arose out of Indian unconcern about the ‘outer’ Indian territories and lack of conscious efforts to integrate the remote areas with the mainland, while preserving the exquisite uniqueness of the civilisational, cultural and traditional legacies of the people of Manipur.

Are you any wiser after having this? This is the simple reason that inspired me to give you a short guided tour of a tiny part of ‘outer’ India.

Your editor consenting, and you willing, I would offer my services to take you to other parts of ‘outer’ India, like Nagaland, Arunachal, Assam including the Karbi Anglong regions.

My generation of Indians is guilty of converting these integral parts of India to ‘outer’ India.

I hope that all of you – particularly the younger generation – reading this will make conscious efforts to convert them to core territories of India, by visiting these places instead of madly rushing to Kullu, Manali, Ranikhet, and Srinagar and Ooty.

Welcome to this guided tour of 'outer' India. May your journey be a fulfilling one.

Next: Northeast of what?

The views expressed in the article are the author's and not of Sify.com

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