Page 56 - 15MAR2020E

Revisiting social role of first civil

servant from Manipuri Pangals

Noor Rahman Sheikh (IFS) from East Imphal’s Kshetri Top tion, patience, value judgment, sincerity,
dynamic personality, etc., that led him to
Khongnang Makhong was the first Manipuri Muslim to secure it easily. His contributions to the
crack the highly competitive civil service exam in the first Manipuri Muslim society are immense.
Moreover, such wave of awareness-cum-
attempt in 2002-03, writes md chingiz khan professional-ship increased immeasur-
ably day by day and year by year after
he issue of contribution to any faced by the Muslims in Manipur. 2002-3.
society that is educationally Scholars tended to view the year He brought some substantial changes
least developing community, 2002-03, a major striking year in the his- in the educational status of this commu-
particularly the Pangal com- torical juncture and scenario of Muslim nity through the agency of competitive
T munity of Manipur, by an in- community of Manipur for understand- exam which helped him to change their
dividual at the personal level is not an ing and explaining their educational sta- vision towards education. These efforts
easy task. However, as a civil servant, it is tus through competitive exams like Civil were highly commendable and were rec-
going be a bit easier task. Keeping this in Service Exam, State PCS, and other lower ognized. The credit goes to him for this
mind, it is believed that education is one grade exams. social structural change from ‘impos-
of the instrumental tools of substantial Pre-eminent civil servant among sibility’ to ‘possibility’ at the community
development of any society, individual the Pangals of Manipur, Noor Rahman and mass level. It is evident from the fact
and community. It functions at the high- Sheikh (IFS) from Kshetri Top Khong- that the motility of competitive educa-
er priority basis from the lower platform nang Makhong, Imphal East, who is now tional parameter with special reference
among the members of any community. posted at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia as Consul to the Civil Service Exam (CSE), the top-
The predilection of the educational General, cracked this highly rigorous and most exam conducted by UPSC, among
status of this community in terms of competitive exam in the first attempt in the Muslim community of Manipur and
competitive exam, primarily the Civil 2002-3. It will not be an exaggeration to other competitive exams is functionally
Service Exam, is a process of two or three describe him as the first torch-bearer and practically said to have felt towards
decades. Their number is relatively low and a pioneer in this field after he just them.
in higher education. Their perception graduated from Hindu College, Delhi Since the early decade of the 21st
is more focused on the basics of Islamic University, Delhi in Political Science century, the Pangal Community has
education at the Maktab Khana and (Hons). seen a paradigm shift in empowerment
Madrasas from the early period of their Starting his career as a young dy- through higher education. The society
settlement to the early period of twen- namic NDA cadet which he had to leave has seen a phenomenon transformation
tieth century rather than the higher later on medical ground, he went on to since the 2000s. In this socio-economic
education. become one of the bright civil servants of churning through education, some of the
It is noted that the first graduate the country. He became the first person Pangal youths who have been leading a
among the Pangals was Muhammad to paint a new picturesque by creating change are being spearheaded by Noor
Wali Ullah in 1928-29 during the colo- and opening a bright light in the educa- Rahman Sheikh.
nial period. Still, some sections of Pangal tionally caliginosity status of Manipuri He is the great grandson of freedom
community settling in different remote Muslim society in the context of Civil fighter of Manipur who participated in
villages considered wholeheartedly the Service Exam. the Second Nupi Lan (December 1939)
learning of English education as neg- Achieving 187th rank among all over namely Smt. Shajabam Kunjehari Bibi,
ligence and impure which made them India, he was the first and foremost IFS wife of Sh. Nur Ali. They had agitated
educationally backward and lagging be- officer among the OBC and General can- against the British forceful occupation of
hind the other religious communities of didates (Meiteis, Pangals, etc.) from Ma- export of rice into other states and other
Manipur, particularly Meiteis and Tribes. nipur. Prior to him, there was no direct factors. They involved in wrecking the
It is one of the primary reasons for their selection in civil services from this com- Kasturi Godown and some others were
lack of interest in higher education. munity though there were some pro- put into jail. Equally important, though
Some of the pertinent queries are giv- moted state civil servants namely Halim less known, is his help and other nota-
en as: Why are the Pangals so backward Choudhury from Babupara, IG Rahman ble works that he has done for the poor
in higher education? Does the state fol- from Keirang, Abdul Sattar from Hatta, families in the state in terms of financial
low the ‘inclusive’ and ‘exclusive’ policies AR Khan from Kshetri Bengoon, etc. and monetary help like resettling of the
towards the Pangal community? Is it due Despite being born from a mid- affected people after eviction at the
to the lack of political leaders or lack of dle family background, he has earned Kshetri Bengoon Awa Ching by giving
interest among themselves? Such ques- his place in the annals of Manipuri land in the nearby area. He also supports
tions need to be paid attention and pon- Pangals as a representative of social the education of the children of some of
dered seriously to tackle the bottlenecks consciousness, aspirations, determina- these victims by sponsoring their fees,

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