Mayangs who write about us have a problem, the problem is racism. It is not that they cannot write about us as nobody can stop them, the matter is they should not write for they bury inside their writings, their racism. The seemingly alright writings on Manipur, when scratched reveal their racism, their erasure of our history and their savior complex. Kajal Chatterjee’s writing on Manipur in leading English dailies of Manipur, is an example that we take here to show how racism against us gets propagated and how attempts to erase and distort our history happen right under our nose.
Kajal Chattejee in an article titled “Hypocrisy, superstition and racism at its peak,” writes:
“Also, it seems it has become a sin to possess Mongoloid features as if their gastronomical habits are responsible for incoming of this virus in India! Actually the virus of racism lies deep within the mindset of these true Indians which inspires them to insult or humiliate our innocent brothers and sisters from northeast India on slightest pretext.” [1]
We are neither innocent nor your brothers and sisters. We are also humans with our own flaws and our own problems, just like all others; there is nothing innocent about us. It is not because we are innocent that one should not be racist towards us. It is because racism is wrong in itself. What if one is not innocent and one has all the political problems, does that person deserve racism? Innocence is an irrelevant issue here. In our everyday experiences in mainland India, we have often seen that mayangs use the non-innocence of the indigenous people of the northeast to justify their racist acts perpetrated against the same. First, mayangs project innocence on us and when we are found as humans, their racism gets justified. We should have a term for this, this should be called mayang kadar.
The writings in English dailies of Manipur, whose audience are the people of Manipur, about racism reeks of mayangsplaining – condescending and oversimplified explanation of racism from mayang perspective. Mayangsplaining also assumes that indigenous people of Manipur need to be explained and taught about racism because they are “innocent” and “unaware”. The idea of “innocent brothers and sisters” stems from a sense of superiority that assumes an entire race to be unintelligent, not that intelligence adds moral value. Calling us “innocent” is also a condescending, patronising, and arrogant act – reflections of their inherent racist attitude and sense of superiority.
His words, “the virus of racism lies deep within the mindset of these true Indian which inspires them to insult or humiliate,” hide things that must be scratched out. The mayang needs to learn to call a spade a spade and do away with such irrelevant metaphors. Racism is not a virus; it is systematic oppression. Racism comes with colonialism; it cannot be separated from the question of how different parts of the region became a part of this country. But, a virus does not discriminate on the basis of race; racism does. Unlike most true Indians, is he ready to open the can of worms? I think not. The reason being his appropriating narrative, he makes all of us his “brothers and sisters.” Do we need to be his brother and sister to be not insulted and humiliated? Is it the case that only his brothers and sisters do not deserve insults and humiliations? His stating that we are his brothers and sisters sound politically innocent, but there is an underlying threat. What happens if we deny being his brothers and sisters? Are we going to be lynched, killed, raped, terrorised and denied of a dignified life, both at home and in mainland India? This is a scary thought. Do we find ourselves now forced into being his brothers and sisters? The threat is scary, not only it is just a scary thought but it is also a scary reality. A reality of extra-judicial killings, rapes, murders, and generational trauma in the hands of Indian state. Further, association with the dominant community cannot be the way out of the oppression we are facing because it restores the power in their hands of the mayangs. Moreover, the “we are all Indians” and “we are brothers and sisters” narratives have been going around for ages, but racism has only been growing exponentially.
Let us come to the reason behind Kajal Chatterjee’s claim that we are his brothers and sisters. The reason is evident in his article, mansplaining and mayangsplaining, on Women’s Day in Imphal Free Press titled “Women power –bold and beautiful ”[2]. While recounting his days in Imphal three decades ago, he writes “no wonder Manipur was the land of Mahabharat’s brave princess Chitrangada (daughter of a Manipur king and married to Arjuna) and now get recognised by lion-hearted “Iron Lady” Irom Sharmila, the undying spirit of Thangjam Manorama, Mary Kom, Kunjarani Devi and Sarita Devi! Hats off to my indomitable Manipuri sisters! ”
He fails to wonder whether Manipur was the land of Mahabharata’s brave princess Chitrangada when the scholars here have wondered, again and again, visited and rejected this narrative. The story is that Arjuna comes to Manipur during his exile and is married to princess Chitrangada, the daughter of Chitravahana. Arjuna stayed in Manipur for three years during which he and Chitrangada had a son named Babhruvahana. Later, after the death of Chitravahana, Babhruvahana became the king of Manipur. When Asvamedha or horse sacrifice of Arjuna’s brother Yudhisthira happened, the horse came to Manipur and there was battle between Babhruvahana and Arjuna. In the battle, Arjuna was killed but later on the father was revived and reunited. After that, both the mother and son from Manipur went to Hastinapur and attended the sacrificial ritual [3].
The immediate question that comes here is whether we have forgotten who our father is and are in quarrel with him. Are we not eager to unite with him? Kajal Chattejerjee, along with many others, has reminded us of this time and again.
We find the narrative’s mention in Jaimini’s Asvamedha and a fourteenth century text, Bhavisya Purana. There have been serious attempts to imbibe this myth in the popular culture of the Meiteis. Gangadas Sen’s rendition of Asvamedha Parava of the Mahabharata in Bengali was translated into a Meiteilon ballad called Langoi Shagol Thouba [4]. This narrative figures as a historical event in a history text book of Manipur, written by Raj Kumar Jhallajit [5].
The narrative was brought in much later after the Hinduisation of the royalty of the Meitei Kingdom for them to claim that the royalty descended from Babhruvahaba, who is the son of Arjuna. “The scholars of Brahmanical school in Manipur, backed up by the royal court and later on by the orthodox but powerful ruling class had written in support of the identification of Manipur with that of the epic, the doyen of the scholars being the great Sanskrit scholar Atombapu Sharma,” Gangumei Kamei writes [6]. This narrative, known as Aryan theory, satirically and colloquially called Ladki Wale narrative, has been rejected by many scholars of Manipur and has disappeared from academia. As John Parratt writes in his The Coils of Pakhangba: A Culture History of the Meeteis “the Aryan theory of the origin of Meiteis, though it dominated Manipuri writing in most of the twentieth century, is now an exploded myth which is no longer acceptable to historians” [7].Not only this, many Indian scholars have rejected this identification; they held the view that Manipur in these myths can be located somewhere around Kalinga in Orissa[8]. However, time and again this narrative surfaces whenever Mayangs write about Manipur. Another recent example is Nandini Krishnan’s book Invisible Men, where the myth figured when she talked about Manipur [9].
The reason seems to be that this legend connects Manipur with them, making them our siblings. “The legend of Arjuna and Chitrangada which is very well known in India became, one might say, the pivot for linking up Manipur with Brahmanical Purana Tradition” tells Suniti Kumar Chatterjee in his book Kirata Jana Kriti, a book on the mongoloid races now in India [10].
With such an erasure of history and misrepresentation, the mayang writers deeply embed their racism, their ladki wale narrative and much more in their writings in very skillful manners. These things are fed to us so that we internalise their racism against us. The cunning and calculated way of using and establishing familial relations and to mute our voice. It is manipulative and a contributory factor in further colonising indigenous minds for generations. So, beware of them. They need to be scratched out and exposed.
References
1. https://ifp.co.in/rhetoric-hypocrisy-superstition-and-racism-at-its-peak-amid-covid-19-outbreak/
2. https://ifp.co.in/women-power-bold-and-beautiful/
3. Gagumei Kamei on the Arjuna-Chitragada episode in Mahabhrata in his book History of Manipur: Pre-Colonial Manipur. Kamei, Gangumei. 2015. History of Manipur: Pre-Colonial Manipur. Delhi: Akansha Publishing House. p. 4.
4. Kamei, Gangumei. 2015. History of Manipur: Pre-Colonial Manipur. Delhi: Akansha Publishing House. p. 3.
5. Raj Kumar, Jhallajit. 1965. A Short History of Manipur. Imphal: O K Store. p. 5-6, 137.
6. Kamei, Gangumei. 2015. History of Manipur: Pre-Colonial Manipur. Delhi: Akansha Publishing House. p. 4.
7. Parratt, John. 2017. The Coils of Pakhangba: A Culture History of Meeteis. Delhi: Mittal Publication. p. 2.
8. Majumdar, R.C. 1966. “Expansion of Aryan Culture in East India.” Atombabu Memorial Lecture. Imphal, p. 16.
10. Chatterjee, Suniti Kumar. 1974. Kirata Jana Kriti, Contribution of the Indo-Mongoloid People to Indian Culture. Kolkata: Asiatic Society. p. 124.
Ruth Chawngthu