On Dr K. P. Sinha's article "on the term Bishnupriya Manipuri"

by Chitra Singha

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I went through the article "on the term Bishnupriya Manipuri" written by Dr K. P. Sinha in kanglaonline.com at Kanglaonline.com and was surprised to see how a well-known scholar like Dr Sinha could involve himself in a mischief that is attempted to damage the Bishnupriya Manipuri people and their identity. With all his propositions what Dr Sinha tried to prove, has rather gone pathetically against it than in its favor.

1) First of all, the so called controversy reported by Dr Sinha that have taken place between the Meiteis and Bishnupriyas as to who are "real Manipuri", is simply baseless. The Bishnupriyas were no party to the so called controversy and never regarded the Meiteis as non-Manipuris and they always view sincerely that Manipuris comprise both Meiteis and Bishnupriyas.
2) The history of "Manipur" and "Manipuri" styled by Dr Sinha is very sad and pathetic. It seems that he poses much more like a historian than a linguistic.
3) Dr Sinha said "Bishnupriya Language is a developed form of, or somehow related to, the language of those immigrants who entered Manipur before the 12th and 13th century A.D. The Mayangs or Bishnupriyas in Manipur spoke different forms of Late Middle Indo-Aryan or Apabhrangsa, of which Eastern Magadhi was pre-dominant.". That means Bishnupriya language traces its origin to Magadhi Apabhrangsa from which Bengali and Assamese came into being. In short he wants to prove that. Bishnupriya language is one not of the indigenous soil of Manipur, but of the refugees from Bengal and Assam.

Does he know that the "Chutiya"s who were several centuries back driven to Cachar, predominantly a Bengali speaking area, are still now the speakers of Assamese language; so also the Bengalis thrown to the Dandakaranya or to Bihar are the speakers of Bengali Language? Why should then The Bengalis and Assamese in Manipur remain an exception to lose their individual existence and forget their respective mother tongues and form a new language among them jointly with a great homogeneity?

4) How amusing it is to go through the sentences "..Bishnupriya language.. was formed towards the 14th and the 15th centuries as a result of the mixture of those different dialects of Indo-Aryan and Meitei". He tried to say that this language came into existence in Manipur only 500 years ago and was formed as a fusion of different indo-Aryan dialects and Meitei. How and why? Different speakers of indo-Aryan dialects and some Meitei speakers get organized in Manipur during 14th century, formed a language and then the language was given a special name "Bishnupriya" - the whole course is like a fairy tale of wonderland. We shall be much happy if he could prove it with valid documents.

It is very clear that it wasn't his purpose to prove Bishnupriya as a Manipuri language, but it is to create doubts and misconceptions unnecessarily as regards the status and tradition of the Bishnupriya Manipuri community. His statement, in the face of his propositions, that " The Bishnupriyas have every right to use the term Manipuri" is mere a mockery and joke with its speakers who consider themselves and let other consider them to be Manipuris by status and tradition.

Dr Sinha is a scholar, I admit; but he is an authority and his verdict is final, I do reject.