Social activist Shanjoy Ahanthem has said that the Government of Manipur must have a clear stand regarding the protection of territorial boundary of the state as it exists before its merger with India and that the stand will help the Government of India from including any part of Manipur in an attempt for territorial exchange between India and Myanmar.
The decision, according to reports from US based magazine The Diplomat, could include a territorial exchange between India and Myanmar in order to resolve portions of their disputed boundary.
According to reports, the exchange could possibly include an area measuring 1.4 square miles (around 4 square kilometres) in Manipur and will go to Myanmar.
Shanjoy said, the process of demarcation that has started on May 26 could be completed in about three months time, which could be by August.
Shanjoy emphasized that the issue of Manipur could not be treated in the same way as the issue of other north eastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram that were later constituted as states in Indian union.
Referring to the Merger Agreement signed on September 21, 1949, between Maharaja Bodhachandra Singh and the Governor-General of India, Shanjoy said the agreement and subsequent constitutional arrangements should not be interpreted as giving the Union Government a free hand to surrender any portion of Manipur’s pre-merger territory to another country.
He maintained that the key issue was the position taken by the Manipur Government.
“If the Manipur Government is bold enough and firmly committed to protecting the territorial boundary of Manipur as it existed before the merger with India, the Government of India will not dare to exchange any portion of Manipur’s territory with Myanmar,” Shanjoy asserted.
He urged the state government to communicate such a position clearly to the Centre and to ensure that Manipur’s territorial interests are not overlooked in any India-Myanmar boundary settlement.
Shanjoy further appealed to the Manipur Government to take a decisive stand on the matter, saying that doing so would help address the apprehension and concern among the people of the state over the possible alteration of its territorial boundary.
