Communal Harmony: Our Greatest Challenge

~ T. Zamlunmang Zou @ Pupu Zou,

The theme ‘of Gandhi’s teachings is that the individual must rise above fear, jealousy and hate. When such individuals combine themselves into a community, the problem of communal jealousy and discord will disappear. [Human Kabir]

When people talk about communal harmony, they usually referred to different religions, beliefs, cults, cultures and practices, but I would like to refer in a narrow minded focal length referring our own society i.e. CHIKIM (Kuki, Mizo, Zomi).

Manipur, in such a tiny state, the non-Naga tribals, precisely the Kukis: related in blood is suffering from CHDS (Communal Harmony Deficiency Syndrome) since some decades ago. The main cause of this CHDS could be the creation of the British rulers or the tribes recognition in the 1950s by the Indian parliament. Taking advantage of this division, the tribal leaders in order to keep themselves in power, they deliberately adopted a policy of alienating others for their own tribes’ interest.

Everywhere in the world so as in our Kuki society, individuals and groups are divided because of fear, suspicion and hatred. It depends on local conditions whether the division expresses itself along religious, economic, political, caste or colour lines. Whatever be the form, insecurity is perhaps the major cause of individual and social dissensions. A person who is integrated and sure of himself fears none and consequently provokes no fear.

What could be the possible causes of communalism among us?

The tribes recognition in 1956 created a series of divisions among the tribals in Manipur (Zomi, Kuki, Mizo) even though we are from the same families and same stock. The tribal leaders, in order to keep themselves in power, based on the tribe recognition, starts religious and political institutions in their own community/tribes. The leaders created the feeling of communalism in different ways for their tribes’ interest and benefits. All this ideas and action greatly disturbed, communal harmony among the tribes. We are divided by paper only and not by blood.

Manipur has also experienced ethnic conflicts between the three main communities. The hill tribes belong to two major families, the Naga and the Kuki-Chin-Mizo. The Naga are more numerous but the Meitei who outnumber both of them do not have much land. Because of it the hill tribes, the Naga in particular, believe that the state is trying to change the law in order to facilitate alienation of their land to the Meitei. To understand this attachment one has to remember that in tribal culture land is not merely an economic asset. Land managed according to their community-based customary law is also the centre of their identity as such it is included in the commons (Fernandes, Pereira and Khatso 2007: 17-18).

The problems of naming the ethnic tribes begin with the British themselves who simply adopted the terms used by their informants to name people of the same ethnic group. For instances, the We were called Chin in Burma, Lusei and Kuki in India. Sir J. George Scott pointed out that, ‘ the names like Kuki and Chin are not national, and have been given to them by their neighbours. Like others, the people do not accept the name given by the Burmese and ourselves; they do not called themselves Chins, and they equally flout the name of Kuki which their Assamese neighbours use. They call themselves Zhou or Shou and in other parts Yo or Lai’. Once the Colonial administrators realised this fact they began to employ hyphenated terms like Chin-Kuki or Chin-Kuki-Lushai for the same people. Thus, there emerged the squabbles between indigenous name and given names.

The Possible Communal Disharmony Remedies

There is urgent need to develop confidence-building measures and move beyond words to practical actions. Promotion of people to people interactions, learning to understand each other’s’ historical and cultural uniqueness, practice cross-cultural communications, learning to manage low-level disputes and keep them from escalating into something more dangerous and explosive, promote non-violence practices through media, etc are few steps that could adopted by the various communities of Manipur for peaceful co-existence.

All tribe-based and clan-based mobilisations or groupings should be discouraged by the people as well as by the government. Similarly, efforts can be made to discourage tribe-based electioneering during the time of election in the state. (Voices for Peace & Development in Conflict – K. Moi)

Efforts should be made through constant preaching and persuasion to remove the distrust and obscurantist prejudice which prevail among the members of various communities. Unless this is done the law and order machinery can play a limited role in checking the communalism tension.

Mixed community meetings/meets should be organised at least once or twice among us to foster communal harmony. Every tribe/ community must seek common ground and consensus rather than promoting differences. The fact that 80% of the dialects spoken by us are similar and only 20% is borrowed from the country we lived shows the scope for narrowing our differences.

Conclusion

With the intense discussion on the topic “Zomi Kuki Mizo Chin Phobia” by our internet gurus on Facebook group –ZOLENGTHE – it is clear that most of us are filled with hatred, distrust, jealousy and a mind of revenge. If we really want to re-install communal harmony among us nothing is impossible, if we try, we can, I would like to urge my fellow brethren not to accept limitations. Vince Lombardi said, “We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.”

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. (Martin Luther King Jr. speech on I have a dream at Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963).

……………… and I have a dream that one day we will sit together under one administrative where there is not hatred, fears and jealousy.

(Thanks to Lamhil Editorial board for inviting me to contribute an article. Contributed to Lamhil)