Reply to 'Correction to a misleading article...'
Dear E-pao:
I am very glad to read the email message from K. Zou. The responses encourage us (Manipuris or the people of Manipur) to discuss our issues, which is one purpose for the article. I am also sure that most of us are ignorant (if not bias) about the smaller tribes in Manipur including Zo/Zous. The article refered to available books published by writters from different backgrounds, not one Zou among them. Just like we consider articles written by Indians (for that matter including some Manipur writers) about Manipur not authentic, there will come more comments on articles written by us from other groups as well. But, the idea is to bring an awareness of the different communities to the outside people and participation from the tribes, not just Meiteis as Manipuris. The origin and meaning of "Hao" is not very clear but the pretext of using the word among Meiteis at present is not to mean what Mr. Zou suggests. Perhaps scholars in Manipur should research on the origin of the word and reinforce the proper use of the word. If one reads a book by Dr. Horam about the politics of Manipur and NE India, the word is refered to even more derogatory in the vocabulary of Manipur. I mentioned it not to hurt people's feelings but to encourage people to think about it and use it in a proper manner or omit to use it. It definetly hurts hill people's sentiments.
It will be wise to request people of the different ethnic groups in Manipur to write up (with pictures to illustrate) their own cultures, traditions and origins and provide it to e-pao or other sites for better understanding. Internet is cheap and easy to reach to a wide range of people just like it reached K. Zou. My sincere apology to him if it hurts his feelings, which was not the intention in the first place. I request e-pao to extent my feelings to him and request him (or a Zou) to write up a small article on Zou so that we can replace that section. But in my mind, the section on Zou is just an introduction to the readers and do not claim to be absoluteness of the tribe. I am not an scholar of Anthropology or Sociology, so my writings are just a compilation of available literature. Suggestions are welcome and changes are possible.
With best regards,
Lalit Pukhrambam, Ph.D.
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