The Dalai Lama came, saw and left pearls of wisdom for the people to digest.
But as in things which are generally associated with all the holy, the pious and the good, the wisdom shared by the spiritual leader here will sooner be forgotten than imbibed.
This is the sad reality here in Manipur, but this is no reason why the people as a whole should not at least try to understand what the spiritual leader had to say during the civic reception programme held at City Convention Centre on October 18.
Unity is one point central to all that Dalai Lama had to say while addressing the reception programme.
Non-violence is another point that stood out and here one may add that given the situation in Manipur, unity and non-violence should be the two sides of the same coin and why not .
And when one speaks about violence one should not only see violence perpetrated by those who have been declared to be on the other side of the law but also by the very set of people who are here to uphold the rule of law.
It is here that it becomes important to question the Government why the Supreme Court has come out so strongly against the alleged extra-judicial killings perpetrated by the men in uniform.
Unity.
Everyone talks about it, but in reality it is more than clear that the understanding of unity has been interpreted along one’s own narrow and selfish line of thinking.
The deep divide between the valley people (Meiteis) and the hill people (Nagas and Kukis) runs so deep that today it has gone beyond the understanding of lack of unity but is seen more as a case of different communities being pitched against one another.
This has been exacerbated by the demand of the NSCN (IM) to integrate all Naga inhabited areas under one administrative unit.
Same is the call for Statehood raised by some Kuki armed groups.
Unity of the Nagas and the disintegration of Manipur.
Unity of the Kukis under administrative unit and in the process dismember the understanding of Manipur as a geo-political reality.
The Meiteis on the other hand have been raising the slogan of ‘no disturbance to the territorial integrity of Manipur’ for years best exemplified by the uprising of June 18 in 2001 when the Centre inserted the words, ‘without territorial limits’ in the ceasefire agreement with the NSCN (IM).
Yes there are different forces pulling apart the understanding of Manipur as a political entity and while there have been opposing voices, no serious thought seems to have been given to the question of why such forces have emerged to tear apart the understanding of Manipur.
Is it a case of all the communities living in a state of harmony with no inner conflicts with the differences rising to the fore only now, especially after the NSCN (IM) signed the peace pact with the Government of India ?
Or is it a case of the differences lying dormant all these years and only exploding now ?
Or is it a case of people preferring to parrot a line which is completely contrary to the ground reality ?
These questions are important and gain significance when viewed against the backdrop of what the Dalai Lama called out for, that is Unity and Non-violence.
Food for thought in what the spiritual leader had to say and understanding what he had to say would make his visit to Manipur all that more meaningful for the people here.
Source: The Sangai Express
