On “Letter from the Republic of Dust”
A Versatile Learner.
by: Maisnam Susmina
Published: 27 February, 2024
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The northeastern part of India has majestic beauty, diverse culture, unique civilization, beautiful and peaceful landscapes, artful and skilled people, rich handicrafts and handlooms. Despite its rich flora and fauna, abundant natural resources, highly skilled people, and the literacy rate of 76.94 percent as per the 2011 population census, Manipur is facing the problem of unemployment. Manipur remains a socio-economically backward state compared to the remaining part of India. The Central Government feeds the people because of its low capital formation and no industrialization. What worsens the situation is the additional lack of a commercial base and the absence of private ownership of enterprises.
Furthermore, government jobs have a price tag despite the limited job opportunities in the government sector. Corruption, nepotism, bribery, and favoritism are not new phenomena. As a result, people, especially youth who do not have this large sum of money, get involved in illegal and immoral activities for easy money, leading to drug trafficking and even prostitution. Robbery, drug addiction, alcoholism, domestic violence, and suicide are the consequences of the upheaval. North-East India, comprising eight States, has fewer representatives; the Central Government generally dodges the entire North-East. The lack of participation in the decision-making body of the North Eastern States makes the State (including the people) alienated from mainland India. People have been distressed to contend their identities and be heard. This distress amongst the people has risen at different points in time. It is not a new issue that young people searching for better opportunities for education or jobs from the North-East States are being ill-treated and racially discriminated against. We have multiple legislations to address discrimination based on caste, religion, or sex. Enabling legislation to address racial abuse is a call in this scenario.
Rajendra Kshetri’s “Letter from the Republic of Dust” is a barded eye-opener, which prods us out of our dormancy, making the book unique in its ways. It is a book embracing different social-political considerations that the author has scrutinized over the past few years. With the book's title, one may feel skeptical, but as one goes through the chapters and lines as a reader, we may find a sense of delight in savoring the undercurrents between the lines. The book is a compilation of articles that the author has published in “The Sangai Express” (Manipuri edition), "Frontier," "Manipur Today," and “Imphal Recorder.” Starting with a prelude to his “Nungshiba Markup," the author, in his forerun, reflects on his ideas, admiration, and deep affection for reading the most treasured books of all times. Like a quilt, the book is woven with different national and local issues, highlighting its happenings to the readers. The book consists of two sections with a prelude analyzing the various topics from people's voices, the antecedent government, fiftieth Independent India and the people, Irawat and Meitei Nationalism, from PLA to MLA, Peripheral India, and Indo-Manipur Conflict from a civilizational perspective and many more. Without revealing much and keeping the momentum of reading a marvelous new work for other readers, here is a little write-up of how I feel about the book.
As I go through the lines and pages, I find the author's remarks wisecrack with a sense of humor. Substantially, the author urges his desire to his friends of mainland India (which the author calls the land of 5Cs: Corruption, Commission, Committee, Cricket, and Coalition) to visit and witness the reality and overcome the distorted stereotypes that they carry. The author has disquietude throughout the chapters on Corruption, Commission, Committee, Cricket, and Coalition. In his lines, the author reveals the attitudes and convictions attached to the people and the land of Manipur by the mainland people, which are expressed metaphorically and sarcastically. The book is more like a letter to break the stereotypes attached to them.
“You see, ‘dust’ had made them blind, irrational, illogical, insane, but at the same time strengthened their perseverance and resilience- the two elements of development….”(p.3)
What interests me more is that the author praises this little land called Manipur, which lies in the corner of India, but he also lambasts it, making a wise juxtaposition of the facts he encountered. The author’s ‘Republic of Dust' is none other than Manipur, the paradise on Earth. The book also has a solid metaphoric figuration, as mentioned above. It parables “dirtyisation” and “dirtism” as a process and a way of life for the people in the “Republic of Dust.” I feel the book is not only to convince the mainland people of the reality of the State but also to remind the people of Manipur (best described as the “Land of Khadaangs” (p. 17) how blind, irrational, illogical, and insane we are. Again, one cannot say much but agree with the author because, for the past 26 years of my stay here on this mother Earth, We, "Imphal Macha," have been under the menace of air pollution. The ‘charming lofty height’ has witnessed air pollution, crowds, congestion, exposure to dirt and dust, and unregulated jams of traffic. Some people think of the degradation just as a shaggy-dog story. So, the question is, "Are we blind to the dust and dirt”?
One of the best parts of the chapters is “Manipur Quiz Two Thousand Two “(parts 1, 2, and 3) (p. 52), where there is a quiz competition among the Upper Class, Middle Class, Lower Class, and Student Community. The quiz is open to all the people above 18(citizens who can vote) irrespective of Caste, Creed, Sex, and religion. The Upper Class is the well-to-do class in our society with money that provides material goods and lots of power. The author gives us light on how the different strata react and respond to different issues in Manipur. Through the quiz, the author gives the readers a light on how the student community is participating and aware of the State's happenings, described as the 'Kingdom of Babupara Babus’ (p.4). The book emphasizes directly as a social commentary, cementing the concept of a link between different sections of people in Manipur. Talking about the “KINGDOM OF BABUPARA," one cannot but love the simple aphorism the book conveys in one of its chapters called The People’s Chief Minister (p.79). The author also opines with sarcasm that the collated group (whatever party it may be) will sit together on the same bench, practicing the same old political games. There will be no opposition worth its name in the House. The author discusses two types of politicians: Political leaders and Political dealers. Political leaders are true leaders who think for the welfare and the betterment of the people and society. The later politicians are the people who work in their interest. They are ignorant and care less about the welfare of the people. They are more interested in accumulating their wealth. Most of the politicians in Manipur are in the second category, which has worsened the situation in Manipur.
The book also primarily incorporates a lucid idea of Insurgency Movements and the rise of nationalism in Manipur. India’s movement toward nationalism is due to its diversity in languages, religions, castes, and tribes. In the context of Manipur, when we refer to the term ethnic nationalism, it holds a wide range of political happenings in Manipur. Moreover, the revolutionary movements in Manipur are an outcome of several deep-rooted factors in the region. The author also devotes two chapters to how Nationalism in Manipur arose with the Insurgency Movement or The Meitei Insurgency. Several writers have written on the denial of democratic constitutional rights of the region by the Central Government. The author also opines, "The history of Manipur since 1949 has been the history of utter neglect and total disregard of the region by the Centre.”(p.110). In the Chapter August 27, 1965: A Sociological Explanation(p.145), the author comments in the History of Modern Manipur, the merger of Manipur in India is indeed a disputed landmark, and the author give his view that it was the radical group of educated generation which brought into focus for public debate and discussion. In one of his chapters, the author critically notes the post-merged Manipur, saying that the region has an unbalanced development. The negligence, denial, and disregard of the region by the Central Government in the post-colonial period have given rise to numerous ethnic insurgencies in the northeast regions of India.
The author rightfully points out that the resentment of the Mayangs by the people of the region is infused by the unjust attitude of the political administration of the central government and significant control of the economy. The sense of loyalty and devotion to the State is an ethnic nationalist feeling of the people. The author also highlighted responses of different sections of society with the follow-up events against the Central Government's unconcern attitude towards the people's grievances and disappointment in downgrading as a part of the C state. The book also sets aside the legacy of Hijam Irabot Singh and how it acts as a force of resurrection. Thus, according to the author, the rise of Insurgencies among the youth of Manipur is because of the dissatisfaction with the political leaders in the region. With the rise of insurgencies, violence became the way of life in the northeastern states of India. State administration became incapable of maintaining its internal disturbance. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Both Houses of Parliament passed bill, and it received the permission of the President on September 11, 1958. Thus, the bill became an act. With the Act giving extensive powers to the armed forces, structural violence in Manipur has increased- enforced disappearance, rape, torture, and extrajudicial execution. Highlighting two crucial followed-up incidents is the naked protest by the courageous "Emas" against the Indian Army in July 2004, a response to the brutal killing of Manorama, and The Iron Lady of Manipur, Irom Chanu Sharmila. She who fast for one decade to free her fellow natives and country from the draconian arms of AFSPA.The authors in his book question: "…..where was Madam Senora when the Manipuri Youth were out in the streets in 2004 protesting against the Armed Forces Special Power Act- AFSPA? Where was her concern when the entire Manipuri womenfolk were in arms……?" (p. 163).
"All Indians are equal. But some Indians are more equal to others" (p.165). In his book, the author portrays two Indians: One from the Centripetal or mainland India and the other from the Centrifugal or Peripheral India. Like there are different shades of blues, there are different degrees of equality. This line reminds me of George Orwell's Animal Farm (the Seven Commandments): “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Although the Constitution states that no person should be discriminated against because of their religion, sex, or caste, it recognizes all Indians as equal before the eyes of the law. However, the author of this book remarks on the regional disparities (the peripheries being left out), highlighting various preferential attitudes of the Central Governments. This implies that all Indians are equal, but the claim does not state it overtly. Thus, the book depicts the different degrees of "equal" -ness, citing other facts and prompts the possibility of misreading the word "equal" as a relative term rather than an absolute one. Equality and Non-discriminatory society will be a Utopian society as long as there is no legislation addressing racial or regional discrimination.
“Culture matters. More so, civilizational culture. It is what defines one's identity. Conflict/clash occurs when one's identity is questioned, challenged, and undermined. When two civilizations come into conflict, chaos and disorder follow. This is what happened in Manipur in the seventeen and eighteen centuries……."
The Indus civilization, also called the Indus Valley civilization or Harappan civilization, is the earliest known urban culture of the Indian subcontinent. The author, in his book, the last Chapter, Indo-Manipur Conflict: A Civilizational Perspective (p.181), reflects his desire to resurrect the Mongoloid Civilization of Manipur. The author opines that the India- Manipur Conflict is due to the conviction carried by the mainland people to assimilate its culture and civilization and, on the other hand, the leech attitude of the Manipur Government. In this regard, the author gives his view that this retaliation can better be understood by looking from the civilization perspective by accommodating the Mongoloid Civilization of Manipur (North-East) in India and understanding the diversity of multi-ethnic and multi-religious. The last part of the book reflects the onset of one's heart to preserve the uniqueness of Manipur's civilization and culture. The endnote opines that India's subjugation and assimilation of another civilized culture and her ancient practices of dispatching troops have worked as an old-fashioned action. Moreover, the alienated feeling of the Mongoloid people of the North-East can only be restored by de-alienated ideas.
The peculiarity, however, that far outweighs is the complete depth of insight, experience, and compelling that the author has put into it. It is a collection of emotions and feelings the author arrays with prudent elements. It is considered that an author is also a conjuror who entertains with his pen. The most striking thing about the book is the amount of self-mastery with which the author has taken his liberty. The author smartly and ultra-carefully strings together bits and pieces of events, information, and ideas to deliver a new chronicle.