Our blood boils when we hear the word “Chinki” shouted by people from mainland Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore etc. We have even fought for it and demanded the Government to impose an Act which will punish those discriminators under the law. Forget mainland India, in our state itself, we feel discriminated when the Meitei’s call us Tribal, Hao, Chingmi etc. Forget even Manipur, and consider the scenario of Churachandpur, we ourselves divide one another, discriminate other communities and tribes and differentiate ourselves as Thadou, Paite, Zou, Vaiphei, Hmar, Gangte, Simte etc. Now, go back to the first sentence of the Para, what an irony it is, those people who are mostly known as ONLY “Chinki” have so many names, identities and differences in their culture, languages and traditions. Of course how will these mainland Indians know all these differences, we all look the same in their eyes. Wouldn’t it be so good if it is actually true? That we are actually same and there are no differences in the languages we speak and we have the same culture and traditions.

I feel we are currently in the same situation as the Black people during the Great Depression. They had migrated from different places and settled in the city of Harlem but they faced discriminationfrom the Whites who consider them an outcast and a minority race, calling them names, using them only as slaves and consider them equivalent to animals. They actually do not have a legitimate identity which can give them an opportunity to be identified and valued as a concerned and responsible citizen of the US. Then the Harlem Renaissance initiated which encourage the Black people to revolt and bring about a rebirth in order to achieve an identity of their own in the same land where generations and generations of their people have settled. Taking up from the Harlem  Renaissance, I would like to address some areas for Renaissance which can be implied in our scenario as well with a hope that it can take and lead us to a better and reformed development and advancement as one identity and emancipation from the political and anti-communal ascendance.

Religion Renaissance: Whenever we speak about religion and our beliefs, we tend to get impulsive as it is indeed a sensitive topic. As a Christian we are taught to follow the teachings of the Bible and confine ourselves as per the teachings and sayings of our religion. But the Bible didn’t teach us to have so many denomination in the name of Christianity or to worship the Holy and divine God. Then why are we differentiating ourselves according to our church denominations? X and Y are best of friends and from the same tribe, but X belongs to Baptist and Y goes to Presbyterian Church. Isn’t it true that even though our friendship and closeness is as thick as blood, when it comes to worship and church, we have to abide by and go to the church where our parents have gone and we are doomed to also go there? Why can’t we believe in Christianity without the slightest bother of which church or denominations we belong to? At the end of the day, is religion more important than humanity?

Social Renaissance: Our society today is as worst as it can be. We face a lot of issues related to gender inequality, discrimination; Poverty, murder, assaults, crimes, still following the old rule of patriarchic governs. On top of that our youths are spoilt by drug abuse, substance abuse, early marriage and even prostitution. We are still a far cry from a developed or advanced society. The more we try to make better changes and advancement, the more we seem to be getting worse and exploited. Where are all our youths??They have to leave their comfort homes to go and gather knowledge and education to other places with better facilities, some has to leave for better pay and better source of income to support their family and use their expertise and skills in other Indian cities and the rest have to leave for employment as our economic condition is not appealing enough to provide employment to people who just passed their X/ XII standard or for those who are not good in academics and are available only for unskilled labor’s. In this situation, what should be done in order to bring back all the intellects, the youths to create a movement for a better and developed society? We need a change, a change in our social structures and our social environment for a better tomorrow.

Linguistics Renaissance: We are proud of our huge and varied richness in our literature and ancient beliefs which our forefathers have adapted. We can’t deny the fact that we were indeed brought down by the same ancestors. We have so many distinguished languages of our own which we are proud of, our folklores, the history of our tribes etc. Taking a look at our population, we constitute hardly 30-40% 0f the total Manipur population which is as low as it can be and on top of that we are so proud of our language, trying to differentiate other tribes who is having different language and dialects .The fact is that in spite of having different tribes and languages, we are able to understand each other’s dialects, can converse fluently and even write fluently in some cases, so what is the hindrance in not being able to identify each other as one and acknowledging the possibility and striving to be united and identified as one? When are we going to accept the bitter truth that we are all descendants of an indigenous race and that we are all the same and have the same yet modified cultures, social norms, traditions and languages?

At the end of the day, our perspective and attitude will only matters and it is true that we may take years to unite and to have the same perspective and attitude but if not now, then when? It is time we start working towards common goals and common perspective with the requisite attitude which will bring fruitful results in the long run. Let’s not be myopic in our vision and mission and rather work towards working on a wider mission and be far sighted for the greater and better good tomorrow and the generations that will follow.

You may want to laugh off my ideas saying its coming from a young girl at the age of 23 and even deny the possibilities of bringing about a revolution through Renaissance in the above mentioned areas as our Church and denominations has been followed from a long generations, or even our social and cultural norms are unique and has its own distinctness and significance of its own or even consider inconceivable to accept one common language leaving our own discrete dialects which has been spoken for years. But let me remind you something here, it also took 200 long years for our Country, India to fight the Britishers and gain Independence from them so it is logical enough to consider the possibility of bringing a change and a rebirth for the greater good and for the unity amongst us and a separate nomenclature for what we can all be identified as One. Until then, I had a Vision, this is my vision and I am sharing it to all my brothers and sisters wishing and hoping that with each little step we take, we will be marching towards achieving a vision and a goal for ourselves."Lets fight and live for our motherland, not fight and die for her".

Lastly, a heartwarming, provoking and inspiring will from the Father , "Nampi Pa" Himself- (L). T.
Gougin.

(L) T. GOUGIN’S WILL (Source-Zolengthe.net)

I too want to leave my will
even if I failed to fulfill my dream of Zoland
during my life time where
all Zomis can live together as one big family
with one aspiration,
one hope that is;
JUSTICE
for Social, Economic, Political, Religion and
LIBERTY
of Thought, Expression, Faith and
Equality of Status and
of Opportunity and to promote among
all Zomis Fraternity.
For these,
we should Fight together, Work together and
Die together.
This is MY WILL.