To be or not to be….
By Suroshree Sinha, New Delhi
To a lot of Bishnupriya Manipuri, the fight of being called a “Manipuri” or being denied the same is not uncommon.
Everyone remembers the court cases, the fights, the disliking…but very few people know that there was a time when people were ordered to burn down whatever available information and proof that a community named ” Bishnupriya Manipuri” ever existed. They demolished our Mandirs and killed our people.
It was a fight for existance, a fight to make the world sit up and take notice.
In this time of darkness came a person with a ray of hope, Sri Dasharath Deb ( Barman) the first and probably the last Tribal Chief Minister of Tripura, who once said that he has two friends, one a Metei, and another a Bishnupriya Manipuri. The Metei’s never called themselves Manipuri at that time. They called themselves ” Metei”, It was the Bishnupriya Manipuri that proudly called themselves ” Manipuri”. I cannot deny the existance of the Bishnupriya Manipuries” or else my bossom friend would not exist at all.
This acted as the first milestone that a tribe called the Bishnupriya Manipuri existed came to limelight and people noticed of it. Otherwise there were people who said the Bishnupriya Manipuri language was a detoriated dilect of Bengali.
My Great Grand Father Sri Kirti Chandra Singha
The establishment of a High School for boys in Kailasheher, Tripura has its history related to a family. Suroshree Sinha reveals.
Sri Kirti Chandra Singha, a resident of Ichappur, Kailasheher was a lawyer during the regime of Radha Kishore Manikkaya Bahadur. He had an intense urge in him to provide proper education to the Bishnupriya Manipuri boys . So, he approached the Maharaja and requested him to open a High School for Boys in Kailasheher.
The Maharaja after hearing his plea, asked Kirti Babu in a ridiculed tone if he wanted the school to provide schooling to his sons. But in return Kirti Babu bowed and replied that he had no sons till date. But since Maharaja uttered the word “son”; Kirti Babu said that he was sure that he would be blessed with a son. Hearing this, the Maharaja got so impressed with the thought that a man who did not have any sons was fighting for a boys school. Thus the boys school was established in Kailasheher. The Maharaja also wished that Kirti Babu be blessed with a son.
Interestingly, after the school was opened Kirti Babu was blessed with two sons – Sri Nilkanta Sinha and Sri Amar Sinha after four daughters. Sri Nilkanta Sinha became the Director Manpower Planning, Govt of Tripura and Sri Amar Sinha the Additional Chief Secretary, Tripura goverment.
There was a song written after Kirti Babu, his friends and associates : “Kirti Babu e, Tanu Babu e..Diyogoi Phiral haan…naugo….tartariya…” which was voiced and sung by famous Gokul Kirtani.
He later became renowned as “Kirti ukil”.
Thus this is a brief story of Sri Kirti Chandra Sinha, his contribution to the field of education and to the upliftment of the society as a whole. I thought this would be just a way to pay homage to a great person who incidentally was my Great Grand Father. I am the Grand Daughter of his first son Sri Nilkanta Sinha.
