Unity In Diversity
[ Living Together In Love, Unity, Peace, Prosperity & Happiness ]

Goodman Naorem *

Introduction:

I am writing this message as a "Human Being" who believes in "Humanism" above all "isms"; who follows "Spirituality" above "Religions"; who has no prejudice against any race, tribe, caste, creed, religion, nationality etc with the sole objective of awakening my fellow brothers and sisters of Manipur and elsewhere in India and the world to the Oneness of Humanity that we all originated from One Creator, God and that we all belong to One Human Family of God! Is this too difficult to understand by anybody?

All the stars, planets are created by God and so all belong to God ultimately.
We are here on this planet earth like travelling guests for a limited period of time and so no land belongs to none permanently!

Life is too short and too valuable to be wasted in hatred, enmity, fighting, killing and live unhappy life!

We should share justly whatever God provided us and live in harmony and happiness together?

Love, unity, peace, prosperity and happiness for all is what we all want, isn't it?

OK now coming down from the heavenly philosophical ideal society to the concrete reality of conflicts and problems in Manipur; there is one simple fact for all problems is that there is Cause for any Effect i.e. Action is always followed by Reaction! The root cause of all problems is injustice!

I am here to solve the problems in Manipur as a whole and so not in favour of any particular community or tribe but for rendering justice to all

Communal Disharmony in Manipur: Problems & Solutions

Cause-1: Religions
Before the introduction of religions like Hinduism, Christianity, Islam etc in Manipur some centuries back people lived in communities and tribes with mutual respect and trust with no hatred, conflict & distrust as being seen now among Meities, Nagas, Kukis etc. So, it is a clear fact that Religions divided people of Manipur as it does everywhere in the world!

Solution-1: Stop following Religions. Follow Spirituality.
The more people are away from religions and activities related to religions the more communal harmony and friendship among people will happen! Spirituality is all about following our Spirit [Soul] i.e. Doing good to all in our Thoughts, Words and Deeds.

Cause-2: Egoistic Attitude
Meities used to show superiority attitudes upon the tribal people based on their culture, geographical locations and social habits! This is one of the causes of Tribals being unhappy with the Meities!

Solution-2: Meities have to stop this outdated Superiority Attitude.
In this modern world no one is superior and no one is inferior; we need each other's help and cooperation to live happily together with mutual respect and trust.

Cause-3: Unjust Indian Laws
Indian laws segregating people emphasized on Religions, Tribes, Castes etc are making unwanted social divisions and thus creating social disharmony. Based on these groupings, people became too much selfish thinking only for their group interests and thus creating communal tensions and fights among people.

Solution-3: Classify people based on Economic Status
When we classify people based on Economic Status, we will broadly find only two categories i.e. Rich people and Poor people irrespective of Religions, Tribes, Castes etc and we should help those who are poor and remove communal jealousy, envy, hatred etc.

Cause-4: Corruption
Corruption simply means misuse of power, funds, bribery, nepotism etc that resulted in the uneven developments of the valley area and the hills. Some development funds meant for hills area could have been misused through corruption!

Solution-4: Stop corruption at all levels
Stop corruption starting from Chief Minister, Ministers and in all government departments. Transparency and sincerity of the state government in the use development funds is required. Decentralized development policies i.e. developments should take place in the whole of Manipur i.e. in villages and towns instead of concentrating only in Imphal city, the capital of Manipur.

Cause-5: Unwise and narrow minded Public Leaders
Speeches or writings by public leaders of a certain community threatening and inciting communal fear, distrust and hatred are all very unfortunate and bring communal tension and fights as people in general follow their leaders blindly.

Solution-5: Leaders please think before you speak or write
Those communal leaders who continue inciting hatred, fear, distrust and disharmony among communities should be punished by law.

Cause-6: Unjust Land Laws
The current Land Laws in Manipur that Hill People can buy lands in the valley but Valley People cannot buy lands in the hill is wrong and it is sheer injustice done to the valley people since long. People should have equal rights and freedom in a democratic country like India of that Manipur is currently a state!

Solution-6: Give equal land rights to both Valley and Hill People
This discriminatory law should be immediately scrapped and equal rights of land ownership should be given to both the Valley and Hill people.

Cause-7: Terming Indigenous Tribes of Manipur as Foreigners
It is wrong for the majority community in Manipur to instil this feeling of alienation and enmity to the various ethnic tribal people who had been living together in Manipur since ages.

Solution-7: Embrace all Tribals as Manipuris
All the tribals currently living in Manipur should be respected & treated as Manipuris.

Cause-8: Alienating people from Mainland India
Restricting land ownership to the people coming from outside of Manipur is OK but as Indians they have the constitutional right to come to Manipur, stay & do their business or work as Manipur is currently a part of India and so Manipuris should not treat them as foreigners or enemies because so many Manipuris are in so many other states in India doing the same; tit for tat, please don't forget!

Solution-8: Welcome all good people from anywhere
Development is the product of sharing & applying knowledge, skills, entrepreneurship, technology, funds and so especially in Manipur, a state where all these development factors are available less locally, Manipuris should welcome people from anywhere with such development potentials and resources.

Problem-9: Emphasizing too much on History
Histories are meant for us to learn mistakes done in the past so that we don't repeat them now. Humanity is progressing every passing year and so it is wrong for us to live in the past history. We live in the present and so, we should solve our problems suitable to the present context.

Solution-9: Learn from the past and change for the better
Past is gone! We cannot undo what had happened in the past but we can improve things on the past mistakes so that we can think and do things better now for the harmony, welfare and happiness of all in Manipur.

Problem-10: Appreciating & Following British Rules blindly
Majority of Indians blindly appreciate and still follow many rules and regulations left by the British. Don't forget British are foreign people and when foreigners rule you, they do everything at the first place to serve their best interests! Just because British made some laws in the past does not mean that you should continue following them by now.

Solution-10: Think above British
It is time to review and reform all the systems and laws left by the British while ruling their colonies.

Problem-11: Cut-off year 1951 is not a good idea
Think, an outsider came to Manipur in 1952 i.e.63 years back and he settled in Manipur somewhere and by now he already have wife, family, grand-children all lived in Manipur and contributing to Manipur either as Agriculturist, Horticulturist, Educationist or in whatever other field of work; how can you call this person a non-Manipuri just because 63 years back he migrated to Manipur? In most of the Indian states and countries around the world 10-15 years is the defining period for a person to get State Bonafide Certificate or citizenship of the country, then why 64 years required in Manipur to recognize a person as Manipuri?

Solution-11: Rethink Cut-off year for being Manipuri
May be 2000 i.e. 15 years back from now may be the preferable and agreeable to all Cut-off year to recognize a person in Manipur as Manipuri.

Problem-12: Manipur Government passing bills in haste
Bills that will change the destiny of the people in Manipur should have been discussed publicly attended by all the communities and tribes of Manipur instead of passing it in haste without proper consultations and public debate. All three bills should have been published on the media inviting people's opinion on them before passing them.

Solution-12: Government should listen to all sections of people
Democracy is of the people, by the people and for the people and people means all sections of people in that state. Manipur government should listen and do things with consensus of all in Manipur.

So, please read and reflect on the ideas presented above and spread the message to all if you think it would help to bring harmony and peace among the people in Manipur and beyond.

Kindly visit HAPPY WORLD SOCIETY website: www.happyworldsociety.net for further details on Spirituality and about Love, Unity, Peace, Prosperity, Progress and Happiness for all everywhere.