By Khathing Ronrei
Ethnicity and Religion – are they always the reason to social conflict?
Meiteis, Nagas, Kukis, broadly are the major ethnic groups of people living in Manipur. Hinduism, Christianity and Islam are the major religions followed by the vast majority of people in Manipur.
On a careless observation the mix of these ethnicities and religions with their own unique history of language, culture, tradition, art, music, and jurisprudence seems rather diverse and colourful. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru rightly called Manipur the Jewel of India for she is truly the melting pot of rich culture wrapped amidst nature’s pristine beauty.
However this rich diversity and colour can be quickly overshadowed the moment one person out of his ethnical and religious motivation and persuasion, an instinct perhaps, demands the wrong question. This particular question that I want to draw your attention to, has been, and will always be the bone of contention for all the people/groups inhabiting Manipur.
I think it will be granted by any fair minded person that today no one ethnicity is superior to any other ethnicity; no one religion is superior to any other religion. It’s the mind-set, the conflict prone gene, and the wrong judgement that we have to deal with every time the question of ethnicity and religion comes to mind and in our conversation.
Protected by secular constitution, India, a secular democratic republic, matters of ethnicity or race, which isn’t a choice; and faith, which is a choice, should be determined by one’s citizenship, allegiance and identity, strictly confined to one’s race and one’s choice of religion. One should not manipulate these two different ideas for vested interest giving ethnic flare or faith-based vibes to make a political, social point just because one particular ethnic group is more superior because of its sheer size, and similarly of a faith group because of its sheer number of followers. It doesn’t make sense.
Any attempt to override this sacrosanct territory of race and faith will only lead to polarization of conflicts and social unrest in a matter of seconds. India has seen much of riots and conflict on similar history. No ethnicity or religion should be treated differently or given special privileges based on head counts, wealth, and power. So have we overrated our ethnicity? Have we overrated our faith group? The answer is regrettably yes.
Whom you’d like to vote, perhaps what kind of state Manipur citizens we would like to live in, what kind of state government system we would like to evolve to can all be vetoed by parties of bias ethnic group/s, and faith group/s if we allow ourselves to continue to view Manipur from that same prism of selfishness.
The silly question is this, which ethnic group is the majority or minority in Manipur? Which religion is the majority or minority in Manipur? This comparison seems trivial at the start, but deep down, it’s profoundly enshrined and hard wired in every individual’s hearts and minds. It begins from the top and then trickled down to the very bottom. As much as possible, such comparisons should have no effect on anyone, but does it? The consequences have become far too costly. Reading Manipur news headlines will tell you how Manipur is terribly divided today in ethnical and religious lines. Conflict seems to be the order of the day. Manipur needs an interlude of calm. Manipur needs to reflect on what this disharmony is about. Manipur has had enough.
Ludicrous examples such as, “the Chief Minister must always be a Meitei!” “The Deputy Minister must always be a Baptist!”“My children must be protected from the Catholics or SDA because they’re a different faith!” “Shias and Sunnis cannot live together!” leaving out at the very bottom, I’m afraid, the minorities and weaker lots. Defining every citizen by their faith and ethnicity will only disfigure, degrade, and retard what could have been an ideally plural and diverse and happy society – Manipur!
The writer can be reached at ronrei3@gmail.com.
