Whose Manipur? : Interrogating Communities and Contestations

<strong>Centre for the Study of Social Systems School of Social Sciences</strong> <strong>CSSS Colloquium</strong> <strong>L. Lam Khan Piang</strong> (Assistant Professor, CSSS/SSS/JNU) a paper on <strong>Whose Manipur? : Interrogating Communities and Contestations</strong> Date :&nbsp;<strong>October 20th, 2016</strong> <strong>Abstract:</strong>&nbsp;Ever since the colonial government brought the hill peoples into the fold of Manipur, the hill peoples and the majority community have been 'living together separately' and could not forged common future for peace and development in the State. In spite of such historical trajectory, there has never been an initiative for trust building neither from the civil societies nor the government. The valley community dominates the State Assembly, of course due to larger proportion in the population count, even so there is still lack of proportional representation that keeps the hill peoples at the receiving end even in a matter related to them, as the interests of the majority community has always been promoted and safeguarded even at the cost of the hill peoples. It is argued that the valley community with such absolute power in the Assembly is not merely a community; in fact it in itselfis the state, Manipur State and always has the tendency to project homogenization in every initiative, which the hill people always viewed with suspicion. All these shaped the experiences of the hill peoples, which is nothing but marginalization and exclusion that is manifested in various aspects like the present reservation issue in Manipur University, the passing of the three controversial bills in 2015, the concentration of all central educational institutions and other important government institutions in the valley area. Further, it is argued that there is no community to propagate the idea of Manipur, neither from the hill nor valley and even though the valley community pledges to protect the integrity of the State, in terms of territory and 'entity', is working for breaking it by denying autonomy at the local governance in the hill areas. <strong>Bio:&nbsp;</strong>Dr. L. Lam Khan Piang teaches at Centre for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University. He has previously taught at Dr. K. R. Nararyanan Centre for Dalit and Minorities Studies, Jamia MIllia Islamia. New Delhi. He has been working in the areas of ethnicity, identity politics and public health.