In the last week of February, a photo featuring Manipur CM N Biren Singh has kicked off a storm on social media. The photo, which was shared by Singh on social media with the caption "I am really proud to see the culture and custom of the Manipuris. What a discipline", showed Singh walking on a red carpet as rows of children lined up on both side kneeling and touching their heads to the ground.
Social media users criticised Singh for being proud of the custom with many stating that he was setting a poor example for children and urging him to set better standards as a leader. Users stated that children should only bow to God, parents and teachers with some claiming that the students in the picture were forced to bow down to impress Singh.
Biren Singh had been invited to the 'All Communities Convention for a Pledge Against Illegal Poppy Plantation' organised by the Meitei Leepun. The convention was a part of the "War on Drugs" campaign launched by Singh to end drug abuse in Manipur.
'Obsolete Practice'
BOOM spoke to people belonging to the Meitei community who all claimed that while bowing down to one's parents is considered as a mark of respect, that doesn't extend to leaders.
A Manipuri journalist told BOOM that the act of bowing down to a leader is a remnant of Manipur's monarchical times.
"It was in practice during the olden days under the monarchy and feudalism. But it is obsolete and no longer in practice. It is an isolated case. It is neither the norm nor the tradition now," the journalist said on condition of anonymity.
"It is a cultural custom where we bow down to elders when greeting them or seeing them off. We do it in family gatherings. However, I don't support this idea (bowing to a CM) of surrendering yourself to someone who has power than you and treating them like a God," a Manipuri student told BOOM on the condition of anonymity
"In my whole life, I have never bowed down to anyone except my parents. I don't know why the organisers claim that it is a custom or tradition because that is bizarre," Budhagyan Ningthoujam, a Delhi-based Manipuri student told BOOM.
"I am a Meitei and we don't do such things. We bow to our parents, teachers in some cases but never in front of a leader. Maybe the organisers made the students do it just to impress the CM," he added.
What Do The Organisers Say?
BOOM reached out to Biren Singh's office who directed all queries to Pramot Singh, whose organisation held the event.
Pramot Singh of the Meitei Leepun defended the act stating that bowing down to elders is a sign of humility in Meitei culture. He was one of the few who commented positively on Singh's post stating that it is a part of Meitei culture to treats guests as Gods and bow down to them.
In a subsequent post, Pramot Singh lamented that "Khoirumba", which he claims is what the act of bowing down to show respect is called, was being seen as a shameful act by a few "educateds".
Pramot Singh told BOOM that instead of focusing on a historic event where 33 Manipuri tribes came under one roof to support a common cause, some jealous people have instead chosen to focus on one photo.
"For the first time in history, Meitei people and tribes came together to for a common cause. So maybe some people are very jealous. The IT groups made it as if the program was held by the government," he said.
Why were students made to bow to the CM? Pramot Singh claimed that students had always bowed in front of guests in earlier events and this was no different.
"It was our plan to receive our leaders that way. Not just this program, but at every program we do the Khoirumba. We have initiated the movement to revive the Meitei culture. We have a rich culture which is degrading (sic)," he said.
Pramot Singh added that the children in the picture are a part of the Meitei Leepun's Thang-ta team. Thang-ta is a Manipuri martial art which gets derives it name from the Meitei terms for sword (thang) and spear (ta).
He got us in touch with Robindro Singh, guardian of two of the boys in the photo. Robindro said that his brothers, who are part of the Meitei Leepun's Khurai Thnag-ta team, have always bowed down to elders and teachers as it is a part of the Meitei culture. He also shared photos of the Thang-ta team's training session and photos of children bowing to older people. BOOM could not independently verify these claims.
Pramot Singh said that the Meitei Leepun will double down on their stance and follow it up with an even bigger showing of Khoirumba at its next event.
"In the next event on May 27, we will line up 500 Meitei and have them bow in the same way," he said.
When asked if he could share pictures of tribal leaders being welcomed the same way, Singh said that all pictures were available on his Facebook page. However, BOOM could not find similar photos from the same event on his page.
Who Are Meitei Leepun?
The Meitei Leepun, Pramot Singh said, is an organisation which is striving to revive the Meitei culture. Unlike other organisations, the Meitei Leepun shuns the spotlight instead preferring to work in the background according to Pramot Singh.
The people who BOOM spoke to have never heard of Meitei Leepun nor the work they do.
"We are based in Imphal where our king, the MP is based out of. We are under the king and he will say the same. We are not an underground organisation but we never go to the media and are very low-profile. We are not in the newspapers but we are everywhere, in the hills, in the valleys and that is how we work," Pramot Singh said.
"Unlike other Meitei groups, we don't fight for one particular issue. Some groups work to stop illegal immigration, some to promote Manipuri languages and script. Every region has a specific issue. We, however, are an issue-less group which is why all the tribes and we have a very good relationship," he said.
Manipur's titular king, Leishemba Sanajaoba is a member of the ruling BJP and is the state's sole Rajya Sabha MP. Sanajaoba had narrowly won the election to the Rajya Sabha in 2020. His candidacy was opposed by many who considered it beneath the king's stature to contest for a Rajya Sabha seat. The Meitei Leepun, on the other hand, had backed Sanajaoba's candidacy.
Pramot Singh said that the Meitei Leepun are a non-political group which works with whoever has been democratically elected to power.
"Our culture is regressing so people don't understand our culture. Now if we bow, they feel that we are begging. Whenever a guest comes, we bow to show that we are humble in your presence. There is a saying in some tribes in Senapati district that if you have a problem with a Meitei, you go to his house as a guest and he will never harm you. He will bow and respect you. That is the Meitei culture which is vanishing. We trying to revive it slowly," he said.
One way that the Meitei Leepun is trying to revive Manipuri culture is by increasing the popularity of Thang-ta. Pramot Singh claims that the Meitei Leepun has a Thang-ta team in every locality which can be deployed at a moment's notice. Something which he has considered doing before including in the aftermath of the photo going viral.
"All the young and unmarried people in our society practice the Thang-ta martial art. Under our king, each house had a horse and weapons so that at times of war, we would be ready. However, this practice was abolished by the British saying that this was forced labour and you cannot have an unpaid army. So we are reviving that culture.
"We have our volunteers in most of the locality now. They were asking what should they do next when they saw people were abusing our cultures in the social media but I did not give them any command," Pramot Singh said nonchalantly.
(Note: The last quote has been changed to reflect the speaker's view about the issue.)