Imphal, August 14: Coalition of Indigenes’ Rights Campaign (CIRCA), Manipur has celebrated the Manipur Independence Day today at Sana Konung here with the titular king of Manipur Leishemba Sanajaoba.
As part of the celebration, king Sanajaoba hoisted the Malem Puba Paphal Tongba Phiral at the compound of Sana Konung along with volunteers of CIRCA and representatives of various civil society organizations.
Speaking at the gathering, K Sanajaoba, who attended the celebration as resource person said that Manipur Independence Day observation is not against the constitutional framework; it is a wakeup call to study and understand the history of Manipur.
“Manipur was not a colony of British India at any stage of history, the then Kangleipak has an organized government and continued to exist as suzerain state even after the 1891 Anglo- Manipuri war. The kingdom continued to enjoy its sovereign political status under the Rules for the Management of Manipur- while the power to govern the people was vested upon internal self government or native rule administration. However, after India got independence, the suzerainty status of Kangleipak (now Manipur) had been revoked with the implementation of the Indian Independence Act-1947.
He also said that following Manipur’s annexation to the Dominion of India various external hegemonic forces have come into play to obliterate the rights of the people and erase ‘unique’ cultural identity of the Manipuris.
“The people have been suppressed upto the extent that even the minds have been colonized and the mass movements in the state of Manipur failed to garner support from the people as their minds have been controlled by the external hegemonic forces,” Santomba said.
While Cultural Activist Ningthoucha Lancha said that the history of independent Manipur couldn’t be mixed with the history of India or British India; there is no connection between the two.
As an imperialist, Indian is utilizing the land and resources of Manipur and it is becoming increasingly clear with each passing day, Lancha said.
Owning to mistakes of the erstwhile ruler of Manipur Maharaja Bhagyachandra, the people of Manipur had to endure the pangs of Chahi Taret Khuntakpa (7 years of devastation) and the territorial boundary of the kingdom has been shrunken as a price of entrusting to protect the Kingdom of Manipur to British from the hands of Burmese.
According to the points of agreements under the Merger Agreement and the Instrument of Accession, Manipur should be returned to its pre-merger status. The Government of India should be responsible for the external affairs, defence, communication and transport. The article Nos 6, 7 and 8 of the Merger Agreement, which was signed between the then king of Manipur, Maharaja Bodhchandra and Governor General of India at Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya on 21 September 1949 clearly mentioned about respecting the sovereignty of Manipur by the Dominion Government of India.
The 14th of August is the day on which the cultural identity, sovereignty and independence of the kingdom of Kangleipak had been restored. From this important day CIRCA and with other like-minded groups will be celebrating the Manipur Independence Day till September 20 across Manipur.
He also appealed the people of Manipur to pledge together and aspire for a developed and independent state from the Manipur Independence Day occasion.
Stating that Manipur has a different time zone known as Manipur Standard Time (MST) since time immemorial, Lancha appealed to follow MST and set the watches one hour earlier than IST.
He also said that separate time zone must be assigned as per the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
On the occasion, the titular king of Manipur appealed all the civil society organizations and its leaders to come together and stand for the people.
Owing to the presence of different blocks of pressures groups the people of Manipur are in a dilemma without knowing which group to endorse or what cause.
“Manipur would remain polarized unless the bodies come together and decide their common line of actions,” Sanajaoba said.
