Imphal Times Supplementary issue 2 Editorial : The Boiling Bowl of Ethnicity Saturday August 18, 2018 By- Dr. Aaron Lungleng The Land of Jewel or Switzerland the present habitat. Some were due language. Names such as ‘Hung/ Therefore, Makhel occupy a very of India has now become the to pressure of population and wung’/Tatar etc. and other names like, important place from a historical Unsettle crisis epicenter of ethnic conflict apparent some due to ecological and ‘Hungshi’ ‘Yang’ among the point of view not only for the Mao The one thing that the people of the state would to tremor any time suspected of environmental hazards and for traced their history alone but for the Nagas as a whole. perhaps be pining for at present is “if only….”. erupting ethnic inferno. The boiling some, due to socio-political issues to Hwang-Ho River or China. Human (Maheo M. Lorho, 2004). If only-the state government would have heeded bowl lies in the North-Eastern region (Shinmi, 1988). “One of the factor sacrifices when chiefs died drawn The Nagas is a generic name the protests of the people and the opposition at of Indian Sub-continent, between of their migration within Asia was parallel practices among the Chinese applies to all the people inhabiting the outset before any instrument is being finalized 23.5oN-25.3oN Latitude and 93.4oE- the expansion of the Chinese Han and Nagas are some of the instances. in the Naga Hills that refers to the o either for settling of the vex Naga issue. If only- 95.3 E Longitudes. The total area of people pushing southwards as The Chinese and Nagas share a confluence of India, China and the state government have understand the emotion Manipur is 22,327 sq. Km. Out of population grew in the valley of common belief that the spirit of a . The area which lies at the which only 2,238 sq.km is valley the Yellow River (Gerald, 1972). person could work actively; these are tri-junction is about 1, 20,000 sq.km of the public. If only- the state government have while, the remaining areas are They filled up sub-tropical and the few illustrations of the common lies within 93°E-96°E longitudes and been more transparent in its dealings, especially covered by Hills. The people of tropical China and the pressure of belief of the Sino-Nagas from the very 23 ½ °N-28°N latitudes (Raising et. when it concerns the interest of the public. If only- Manipur State are distinctly grouped population triggered the ancient times. al.,1994). In the word of J.P. Mills the state government have recollect the series of into three main ethnic communities. momentum which sets off ripples Oral traditions abound among (1922), the area inhabited by the events that occurred in the state as the fall of Meiteis (inclusive of the Meitei of migration which affected the the many Naga tribes regarding how Naga is “bounded by the Hukawng wrong decision that hurt the sentiments of the Bamon and the Meitei Pangans). whole of Asia (Sardesai, 1981). they came, dispersed, etc., Folk songs, valley in the northeast, the plain of people. Whereas, the hills are inhabited These immigrants’ tribe took folk tales and stories of Nagas tells Brahmaputra valley to the north- The present situation is a result of the failure predominantly by the tribal dividing different routes. Some took the the latest waves of migration and the west, Cachar to the south-west and of the state government to perform its most basic into two main ethnic-dominations Himalayan section which extends particular spot from where they took Chindwin (river) to the east. In the function- that of ensuring the welfare of its people- namely, Nagas in the north, east and down through the Patkai, Arakan off are traced back to China as their south, the Manipur valley roughly economically and politically. The perennial effort west whereas Chin-Kuki-Mizos in Yoma, and Banda Arch towards root habitation. According to marks the point of contact between the South. It will be worthy to study Sumatra and Java, and some took Shimray, R.R. (1985), the Nagas had the Naga tribes and the very much to appease the central government and to be in the sensitivities among the the Pacific section extend from first followed the southward more closely interrelated group of its good books, and worse still, to maintain and ambiguous ethnic anthology within Formosa through the Philippines, movement and after reaching the Kuki-Chin-Mizo tribe. increase their coterie of unscrupulous racketeers one administrative entity. Borneo and on to Japan. Smith, coast or some island, they turned The area of the present and swindlers to do their dirty deeds and biddings The Nagas 1925, Hodson, 1911, Hutton, 1921, north-west, but left their brothers State is 16,579 Sq. Km and have distanced the so called peoples’ William Watson (1961), basically for Vissie, 2008 argued that perhaps somewhere near the coast or perhaps the Nagas areas in Manipur measure representatives from the public. Distrust, suspicion much of history, South East Asian the Nagas were among those in some island. They take the 15,519 sq. Km. Many Nagas such as and lack of communication increases as a result. earliest settlers were Paleolithic or tribes who migrated from China and westward movement and finally Somras Tangkhul, Kongyaks, The declaration by the major civil society pre-Paleolithic food gatherers, settled on the way in the Naga Hills. reached Burma from there they came Khiemngans, and Yimchungers etc. organization of the state as well as the main hunters, fishers and folk who had The sinologist Derk Bodde posits to the present hills. The hypothesis are living in the Naga Hills of Burma opposition political parties including Congress to made the transition to stone-using in The Cambridge History of of the Nagas that come from the sea (Myanmar). Today, one will find the convene a special state assembly session to discuss culture. A Hindu epic tells the China stated that “for every man cost or at least from some islands is Nagas in four divided folds in India presence of the Mongoloids in India whom Meng Tian could put to strengthened by the lifestyle of the and another two folds in the province the issue and to take a consensus harms none to as early as 2500-2000 BC. work at the scene of actual Nagas and the ornaments being used of Kachins and Shans State of Burma the ruling BJP led govt. as it is a matter of the Archaeological excavations found, construction of the Great Wall of till today. Their fondness of cowrie (Myanmar) numbering to 4 million in state. such as stone and bone tools, as China, dozens must have been shells for beautifying the dress, and population” (www.tangkhul.com The voice of the opposition on the present steps well as animal remains as evidence needed to build approaching roads use of conch shells as ornaments assessed 21/4/2010). In the Indian being taken up by the state government as not of Stone Age habitation in the four and to transport supplies”(Bodde (precious, valuable and prestigious side, there are 16 tribes in Nagaland trustworthy conveys the manner in which the public caves of Khangkhui Caves located 1978, p. 63). This was supported to them are marine gastropods which and 32 tribes in Manipur, and have come to view those at the helm of affairs. It near Khangkhui, some 11 kilometers by the Han dynasty are found only on the sea beaches) . Tanai would not be an exaggeration to state that the (6.8 mi) southeast of Ukhrul statesman Zhufu Yan’s description and the fact that the Nagas have many in Kachin state of Myanmar is present set of ministers and MLAs has shifted their District on the border with Upper of Qin Shi Huang’s Ordos project customs and way of life very similar populated by the Tangshang Nagas focus from governance towards profiteering. Every Burma (Sharma, T.C. Pandey S.N. Ed. in 128 BC. “When the populace to that of those living in the remote while Khamti Township is populated single activity is being carried out on consideration 1985). The first evidence had become, tired and weary, they part of Borneo, Sarawak, Indonesia, altogether by all the Naga tribes. of Pleistocene man in the northeast started to disperse and escape. Malaysia etc. indicates that their Around 120000 Nagas are said settle of money and personal benefits and nothing else. India dates back to about 30,000 BC. The orphans, the frail, the ancient abode was near the sea, if not in the Naga Self-Administered Zone The practice had thus been institutionalized leading Other notable caves nearby include widowed and the seniors were in some Islands. It is also said that in (Sagaing Division). Therefore, the to a trickle-down effect. Hunding Caves, 11 kilometers desperately trying to escape from remote past one party having pierced stretch of Naga Hills in the tri- When thoughts about how to remain in power (6.8 miles) south of Ukhrul (Ukhrul their appallingly derelict state and ears left Chiangmai area in Thailand. junction of China, India, and filled the mind of those ruling the state, bureaucrats district), Purul Cave in Purul wandered away from their home This group of people with pierced ears Myanmar is the home of the Nagas and other political advisor had failed to give good ( District) and the Song (Yap 2009, p. 159). is again seen by the Burmese who with its exotic culture that branched advice to the ministry regarding the development Ring rock shelter in the Beyang As of Marshall (1960), on know them as Na Ka (Na means ear from Chinese civilization. to see from the perspective of the Constitution. village in Tengnoupal in Chandel the basis of information received and Ka means holes in Burmese) so Initially , the first confrontation The issue of Article 370 and Article 35 which give district (O.K. Singh, 1984). One of from Dr. Berthold Laufer, “the early in Burmese Na ka means people with with the British was when Capt. special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir archaeologist most valuable home of the peoples of Eastern holes in the ears. This event is further Jenkins and Capt. Pamperton has been not studied. Counter arguments which findings is a pebble chopping tool Asia was in the upper reaches of substantiated by the account of marched from Manipur and set foot discovered in the Maring Naga the Hwang-ho or Yellow river in Burmese. “According to Burmese into the land Angami region in Naga could be established from the angle of the village, Machi, in the Chandel China and from this center, the Census report, successive incursion Hills in 1830 via Popolongmai and constitution of India which is being pending in the district. The Marings Nagas are one Tibetans moved westward; the of the so-called Tibeto-Burman Samaguting (B.C. Allen, 1905). Then, highest court of the country has not been studied of the oldest tribes of Manipur and early tribes of Indo- China people come from a region of western an imaginary line within the Naga well. this finds are considered as a Southward, and the Chinese, China between the source of Hwang- Hills stretch started to draw for the Nothing is better when it come to the welfare landmark in the Paleolithic South-East. Accepting this view of Ho and Yangtse-Kiang rivers” convenience of the British of the state. Already academic activities of the archaeology of Manipur, as it Marshall, the Nagas can be said to (Chatterjee, 1950). administration. Further, Indian after Higher studies have been put to halt due to the confirmed, the area was inhabited by have followed the early tribes of Many scholars of the Nagas she freed from the British yoke, failure to understand the sentiments of the people Neolithic people from the early Indo-China group. “The Nagas are are of the opinion that the Naga divided the Nagas and putting of the state particularly to those of the Manipur Stone Age or lower Paleolithic a blend of early aboriginal migration waves took from two them under different administrative University Community. period. populations referred to as directions, namely Southeast Asia states such as Assam, Nagaland, The state is at a standstill as of today, and the New Stone Age findings in the Mongoloid peoples that migrated and Eastern Tibet or Western China. Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh to Tharon Caves in Tamenglong from China 12,000 years ago,” It was followed that the Nagas loosen the Nagas cultural and hardest hit lot would have to be the people of the district provide the first concrete (Frans Welman, 2007). By passing through the mainland and the political solidarity. As a result, the state when any decision has been taken by the evidence of Hoabinhian culture in discerning into the Naga legends, Irrawaddy and Chindwin valley greatest conglomeration of Nagas parliament that divides the state in terms of India, a Mesolithic Southeast Asian tales, stories and folk songs which during the Paleolithic or Neolithic Age scattered into pieces. The present administration. The need of the hour is to convey cultural pattern based on historic were verbally passed on to the had gradually moved up and finally Nagaland State of 1963 came into the message to the central government that the finds from the village of Haobihian succeeding generations, we locate settled at Hsawngsup, now being as an outcome of the divide state of Manipur still is united over its emotional in North Vietnam. Similar relics have the Nagas origin in the giant Thangdaut in Burma (pronounced as and rule policy of India executed issues of integrity, for that a consensus of the been found in Thailand at the Spirit Asian Civilization. Samsok in Tangkhul) from where they through the ’s state assembly is needed besides the earlier Caves as well as in Burma and other From the early period, Chinese finally moved to the homeland that convention (NPC) to douse the resolutions adopted as certain changes has been places in Southeast Asia. Tharon is civilization maturely developed. are occupied today. Their migration flame of nationalism when the seen taken up to solve the issue of the NSCN-IM. a Liangmei Naga village where the Elizabeth Seeger, in “The Pageant movement is traced through legends, Nagas spirit runs very high for self- Could the state government kindly enlighten the five caves and rock shelters were first of Chinese History’, New York, stories and folk songs and that most determination. Thus, the majority explored in December 1979 by the 1934, writes “when the Pyramids of the Nagas tribe affirmed to have Naga population and their land are public as to the rationale behind such a State Archaeology Department. were being built in the valley of come out of a ‘hole’, here the hole in divided and placed under the consideration? Does it still believe that it can Tharon’s edge-ground pebble tools the Nile, China too was building the earth is likely to refer to a cave or sympathy of the different Indian somehow wriggle itself out of its present quandary? are similar to finds from Burma, up her early kingdom along the wall or to a rugged ridge (Shimray, Unitary Government. The present 2019 is not far from today and the beauty of Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Hwang-Ho, and when Babylonian R.R, 1985). struggle for the self-determination democracy is that certain issues which were not Philippines where they were used wise men were studying the stars Another authentic theory on is due to the repercussion of the handled with extreme seriousness understanding about 7000–8000 BC. Possible dates measuring the sky, Chinese were Naga dispersal is that; the Nagas Indian divisive politics. the mindset of the people often ruin the fate of for the Neolithic age in northeast making a calendar and foretelling forefather came from a watery domain Historically, Nagas are not Indian any political party. The alternative isn’t much India are between 500 BC 2000 BC. the eclipses.” Similarly, the Nagas through the ‘Hourie river’ (tributary subjects. The Indian national comforting either, with most of the leaders being It is probable that the sites are believe to lead by reading human of Chindwin in Myanmar) and anthem openly and vibrantly outcasts of the present government or ones who already inhabited by Neolithic men events through cosmological reached the valley and settled declared its people and have been discarded by the people- a classic case in or around 2000 BC. phenomena. They believed that if there, but because of mosquito geographical landscape. The Although the presence of the corona of the sun is circled by menace they move northward to a present Northeast was not at all of old wine in new bottle. The ultimate responsibility Mongoloid groups in the Northeast a ring, it signifies the death of a place called Makhrefii (which is part and parcel as well as the dream of protecting the interests of the public will region had been detected as early chief or nobles. On the day of AZ. commonly called Makhel). Hardly, of Bharat. Rabindranath Tagore in therefore come down to us, the general public as 10 B.C. the Nagas had maintained Phizo rainbow over Khonoma was any theory may stand against this sound mind and knowledge through our judicious choice of representatives who little outside contact till the later part said to witness, again prior to Issac popular theory of dispersal as composed the anthem according to can dig deep and fight our fight, not someone who of the 13th century. The existence Chishi Swu a circle on the corona belief, taboo, and relics which what and what who Bharat was. The can shell out the highest bid for our mandate. of Naga was mentioned by Ptolemy, was manifest and on his death, a many Nagas tribes considered as occupation of the Nagas solely the great Greek Philosopher of the rainbow over his native village was sacred to them holds the support confined to the Jawaharlal Nehru 2nd century A.D., in about 150 A.D, testified. Such were the two major with evidences. This sacred place egotistic interest of subjugation Letters, Feedback and Suggestions to ‘Imphal Times’ who heard of this people during his events Nagas seen during their is situated at Mao- Maram region else the Nagas lives within a good can be sent to our e-mail : [email protected]. visit to Western and Southern India decade of resistance movement 7 kilometers away from the National social and political set up of For advertisement kindy contact: - 0385-2452159 (O). as a wild people with a characteristic when their greatest national leaders’ highway 53. The name for Makhel socialist democratic fully in self- flat nose of the Mongol race. These die. is ‘Makhefii’ in Mao, ‘Mekhroma’ independent sovereign village For time being readers can reach the office at Cell Mongoloids groups in Asia took Nagas are a speaker of both Sino- in Angami, ‘Makhel’ in Tangkhul state. Phone No. 9862860745 for any purpose. different reasons and routes to enter Tibeto and Tibeto- Burmese and ‘Mahou’ in Zelliangrong. (To be continued)

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