The Coalition for Indigenous Rights Campaign (CIRCA) Manipur observed the 80th Manipur Independence Day with a programme held at the Ideal Teachers Training Academy (ITTA), Sajiwa, Imphal East today.
Ema Naorem Memma Leima president of Iramdam Kanba Apunba Lup (IKAL), Ema RK Tharaksana, president of the Women Association for Socio-Economic Development (WASEDEV), CIRCA Vice President Longjam Ratan, TTA Chairman GB Khagokpam Ronel and ITTA Principal Dr Yengkokpam Ranjan Singh and CIRCA President Thokchom Somorendro attended the programme as presidium members.
Speaking on the occasion, CIRCA President Thokchom Somorendro said Manipur has a long and glorious history and stressed the need for the younger generation to understand and remember the history of the State.
He said CIRCA has been organising the observance every year and would continue the tradition in the years ahead, while appealing for public support.
Thokchom Somorendro said the Meitei community has traditionally regarded all communities living in Manipur equally and claimed that no community had been deliberately suppressed or discriminated against from the time of their forefathers and the reign of the Ningthou (kings) to the present.
He, however, cautioned that if the Meitei community is pushed into a situation where it feels its identity is at risk and is forced to struggle for survival, the consequences could affect all communities.