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A quisling generation unmaketh Manipur in 1949
Wahengbam Pathou
A quisling generation unmaketh Manipur in 1949
Wahengbam Pathou
Contd from previous issue A man of humble origins, Sinam Krishnamohon was born in Keishamthong Sinam Leikai, near the present day Irom Pukhri Mapal. After his marriage to princess M.K. Tamphasana, he was allotted a vast swathe of land for residence in the vicinity of the Sana Konung and was very well treated, favoured and one can even say, preferred and pampered over others. Both Maharaja Bodh Chandra and Capt. M.K. Priya Brata, his brothers-in-law, were quite considerate in awarding him a ministerial berth in the Interim Council. After having enjoyed all the fruits, privileges and power that comes along with serving as Finance minister in the Capt. M.K. Priya Brata government for not less than fifteen months, Mr. Krishnamohon turned perfidious betrayer to both Maharaja Bodh Chandra and Capt. M.K. Priya Brata when he embarked on a journey to Delhi along with Dwijamani Dev Sharma, the cunning, crooked, calculative, hubris filled, wretched Khwai Naga-turel-mapal Brahmin. That’s why the old adage usually ascribed to Roman senator Cicero, ‘A nation can survive its fools and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself’. This saying aptly applies to Dwijamani Dev Sharma and Sinam Krishnamohon for their disgusting shady, quisling role in the run-up to merger; visiting Delhi, lobbying and hobnobbing for Manipur’s merger with India in the middle of 1949. Forthcoming generations will never pardon them for their heinous and inimical deeds. Post-merger, S. Krishnamohon was amply rewarded for his quisling role when he was made Rajya Sabha member from 1964-72; no doubt, quislings were amply rewarded under Indian dispensation when they were made Rajya Sabha members, viz. Ngangom Tompok (1954-56) and Lalit Madhop Sharma (1954-62). Nevertheless, Sinam Krishnamohon has gone down the history as a self-styled leader who failed to win any popular election. At best what he could achieve was to be a nominated minister in the interim council or an indirectly elected parliamentarian in the Upper House of the Indian parliament. Given his disposition, he was later on mocked at as Gandhi saba neta (politician mimicking Mahatma Gandhi) by those who knew his character inside out from among the vox populi and hoi polloi. An election loser of 1948 elections from Keishamthong constituency, a man who occupied ministerial post for fifteen months holding, the coveted and much sought after, finance portfolio in the interim council (1947-48). His induction along with that of R.K. Bhubansana as ministers in the interim council became a flashpoint for full-blown confrontation to rise between the Maharaja Bodh Chandra and Tompok faction of the Manipur State Congress, which eventually germinated seeds for Satyagraha movement August-November, 1947. Yet, in spite of all the fair, generous, indulgent and lenient treatment given by his brothers-in-law Maharaja Bodh Chandra and Capt. M.K. Priya Brata, Sinam Krishnamohon turned ultimate perfidious betrayer to their cause. His ultimate act of colossal betrayal and mammoth letdown of Maharaja Bodh Chandra was to go all the way to Delhi in the middle of 1949, either at the behest of or collaborating with, the imperious Brahmin Dwijamani Dev Sharma, his dear friend since college days, to commit the ultimate act of quisling, fifth-columnist role i.e. to hobnob and lobby at the A.I.C.C. leadership for abolition of monarchy, under whose patronage he grew up and enjoyed fruits of power as Finance Minister for fifteen months and merger of Manipur into the then Dominion of India, trying to just kill off the proud independent, sovereign existence of Manipur in the company of Dwijamani Dev Sharma, just because they did not get the chance to satiate their appetite for power under the monarchical dispensation of Maharaja Bodh Chandra. To put in a nutshell, it would not be wrong to say it must surely have been an ‘Et tu, Brute’ moment for both Maharaja Bodh Chandra and Capt. M.K. Priya Brata on coming to learn that Masen-ibungo and Mabai-ibungo M.A. Krishnamohon went to Delhi along with the wily Brahmin M.A. (Sanskrit) D.D. Sharma, arch-foe of both the royal brothers to seek their removal, ouster, dethronement and worst of all, press for merger of Manipur, the lowest ebb of treacherous, perfidious betrayal as one can imagine with all the wit at his command. Again, as the old adage goes, ‘the saddest thing about betrayal is it never comes from your enemies’ but from among your kinsmen, kith and kin. Et tu, Masen-ibungo Krishnamohon, Et tu, ebai-ibungo Krishnamohon, these words must have surely rung Maharaja Bodh Chandra’s and Capt. M.K. Priya Brata’s ears on learning their brother-in-law has collaborated with Sharma to unmake Meitei kingship and the then existing Manipur government by going to Delhi in an about July-August 1949. In Latin, the phrase evil twin is denoted by the term malum geminae. D.D. Sharma and S. Krishnamohon were, perhaps, the worst malum geminae to have ever born on the soil of twentieth century Manipur. It is said Sinam Krishnamohon was cursed by Maharaja Bodh Chandra not to have any offspring. He did not have any offspring as such, he died issueless because princess M.K. Tamphasana met premature demise and S. Krishnamohon was not known to remarry after he became a widower. That means, Mr. Krishnamohon’s died without leaving any issues and heirs to continue his bloodline. A Meitei monarch’s whether reigning, titular or say, even on the run after enemy forces has swamped the kingdom, is said to have very strong effects and heavily impactful unless the curse is rescinded by another monarch. (To be contd)