Expressing his contentment over the celebration of HUN, the biggest cultural festival of the Thadou tribe, under the theme, "Drug-Free Society", on Tuesday, Chief Minister Biren Singh urged the people of Kangpokpi to take a strong collective pledge on the auspicious occasion to eradicate the illegal cultivation of poppy and also annihilate the drug menace in society.
CM Biren attended the 5th State-Level Hun 2023 on Tuesday at Kangpokpi District Headquarters as Chief Guest while PWD and YAS Minister Govindas Konthoujam and Textiles, Commerce, and Industry and Cooperation Minister Nemcha Kipgen, who is also the local MLA attended as Guest of Honour and Functional President respectively.
Tribal Affairs and Hills, and Horticulture and Soil Conservation Minister, Letpao Haokip attended the event as Chief Host, and former Minister Chungkhokai Doungel, who is also the founder Secretary General of Thadou Students' Association attended as the Hun Pa while BJP Secretary Organization, Abhay Giri, Oinam AC MLA Irengbam Nalini Devi, Saikul AC MLA Kimneo Haokip Hangshing, Tamenglong AC MLA Janghemlung Panmei, Chairman of Manipur Khadi and Village Industries Board, N. Nimbus, and ADC Sadar Hills Chairman, Haokholal Hangshing attended as special guests.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh declared Hun 2023 open by releasing balloons and 'Sinkhup' after the traditional ritual offering by the Thadou tribe.
Addressing the mammoth gathering, Biren said that we should protect and preserve our own culture and identity and this is what he has been emphasizing for the last six years while adding that the BJP Government in Manipur had built the indigenous housing model of all tribes of Manipur at the Ethnic and Eco-tourism Park to promote their respective culture and identity.
He also said that the BJP is a people's Government and with the introduction of PMJAY and CHMT cards, one need not worry about treatments at hospitals. The government has also introduced the One Family One Livelihood Scheme where a grant of Rs 10 lakh incentives will be provided to one beneficiary, within the age of 65 years, of every household across the state, the CM added.
“What else do we need when we can get free treatment with the PM and CM health card and get a livelihood scheme", Singh added.
He also said that this is how the BJP Government is the people's Government and urged the people not to be misled by some vested people who termed the BJP Government as a communal Government.
In all, 55 MLAs out 60 supporting the BJP is also a proof of the BJP Government as the People's Government, Biren added.
However, responding to a query over the resignation of two BJP MLAs from their respective assigned posts and few BJP MLAs camping at Delhi, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said that there is no need to talk about such. They wanted to work only in their respective assembly constituencies and avoid the media for further comments, he said.
The Hun 2023 festival, the biggest cultural festival of the Thadou tribe, will continue till Wednesday with many more entertaining cultural displays, indigenous thadou games and others.
Ngamkhohao Haokip, Chairman of the Hun 2023 celebration, said that Hun is the most important festival of all festivals of the Thadou people, the second largest tribe in the state of Manipur.
Hun, according to the Thadou, etymologically signifies time and season. The ‘time’ here significantly encompasses something of the entire cosmology-from earth to heaven, death to life, and all the affairs of man and his spirituality. Hun is an archaic but formal form of time in the above sense of the language, he added.
He also said that Hun, which is celebrated for seven days, is more than a cultural festival, it is a civilizing act of the Thadou tribe and it is the custom, the culture, the religious affairs, and the greatest occasion for almost everything in the social, religious, and political life of the Thadou Tribe.
This year, Hun 2023 is organized under the theme, "drug-free society" and the motto, "My Culture, My Identity".
Significantly, the state Government of Manipur on January 27, 2023, declared April 7 as a restricted holiday in the state of Manipur on the occasion of Hun, the Thadou Cultural Festival.
Interestingly, the glamorous Miss Universe 2021, Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu will attend the festival as a showstopper with international designer Robert Naorem tomorrow.
Mister and Miss Thadou beauty contests, Thadou folk songs, folk dance, and folk music, Thadou modern songs, tastes of Thadou cuisines, Thadou Handloom and Handicrafts, Thadou indigenous games and sports, and Thadou traditional attires will be the main highlights of the two days event.
