The Military Affairs Committee (MAC) of the proscribed Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) has extended greetings to the people on the 21st raising day of its armed wing, the Miyamgi Fingang Lanmi (MFL), which coincides with Patriots’ Day — a day observed in Manipur to honour the heroes of the 1891 Anglo-Manipur War.
In a statement, the outfit paid homage to the war heroes, including Paona Major and his soldiers who fell in battle, and to Koireng Yubaraj and Thangal General, who were publicly executed by the British at Pheidabung. The KCP also saluted all those who have, in its words, “sacrificed their lives fighting the proxy war against the indigenous people” and expressed solidarity with those currently enduring its effects, along with civil society organisations (CSOs) and revolutionary groups across the WESEA region working towards “restoration of lost freedom.”
The statement recalled that after the Seven Years’ Devastation (1819–1826) and the subsequent Burmese war, Manipur rebuilt itself but faced repeated British interference that eventually eroded its sovereignty. It lamented the loss of status of Manipur, which once stood among the sovereign nations of Southeast Asia, and stressed that August 13 serves both as a memorial day for the entire nation and as a reaffirmation of a “national pledge.”
According to the KCP/MFL, the date of MFL’s formation in 2004 was deliberately chosen to align with the spirit of August 13, 1891 — when Manipuri heroes laid down their lives in defence of the motherland’s sovereignty. The group said its armed struggle draws ideological inspiration from Mao Zedong’s “Three Constantly Read Articles of China” — Serve the People, In Memory of Norman Bethune, and The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains — which, it claimed, embody the principles of revolutionary perseverance and service to the people.
The statement used these writings to underline the outfit’s call for steadfastness in the liberation struggle. Quoting Mao’s famous dictum that “to die for the people is weightier than Mount Tai,” the group said true revolutionaries dedicate themselves fully to the cause without regard for personal gain, drawing parallels with historical figures like Canadian doctor Norman Bethune.
In linking the parable of the “Foolish Old Man” to Manipur’s political situation, the KCP said the indigenous people face their own “two mountains” — which it identified as Indian imperialism and internal feudalism — and urged persistent collective struggle to remove them.
The MAC concluded its message with pointed questions on Manipur’s political trajectory: why sovereignty did not remain intact after August 14, 1947; how the signing of the Merger Agreement on October 15, 1949, altered its status; and why sacrifices of past patriots have yet to secure lasting independence. Accusing India of instigating a proxy war through money, arms, and the mobilisation of Kukis, Pangals, and others, the group called for unity and a “new revolutionary movement” to resist what it termed existential threats to the indigenous population.