Veteran politician and former minister of Manipur, Okram Joy Singh had said that the root cause of conflict in the state is the creation of the India.“The root cause of conflict in Manipur is the creation of the Indian State”, said Okram Joy Singh as resource person in the technical session of the Two day National Seminar on “Roots of conflict resolution in Manipur: claims and counter claims” held at the Amity Hall, IGNTU-RCM.He further said that after the forced merger, Manipur was made a Part C state, which was totally dependent on New Delhi. Further, Manipuri language which was a Court language of the Kingdom of Manipur was not included in the 8 schedule of the Indian Constitution for a long time and money sanctioned for development of Manipur upto the 7th Plan was 213 crores only. He further emphasized that negligence hurt the sentiments of the people of Manipur this forced the people to take up arms.Another resource person, L. Malem Mangal o Royal Academy of La, Oinam, who spoke as resource person today said that Manipur is an occupied state. Justifying his statement he elaborated on the merger of Manipur to the Indian Union took place during 1049. Citing various laws of the land as well as international convention Malem said that the erstwhile kingdom as forcibly annexed without the consent of the people of the state.“No plebiscite or referendum as conducted to take the consent of the people for merger to the Indian Union”, Malem said and further added that Manipur is thus an occupied state.During yesterday session Prof. Ksh Bimola Devi, Manipur University said that the armed-opposition groups in Manipur are demanding sovereignty.She said that the Central Government refuses to recognize the prevailing conflict situation but terms it as a law and order problem.“Failure to give recognition underscores the fact that the United Nations also will not recognize the problem in Manipur as India is a member of UNO. So even if the armed opposition groups continuously files petition to the UN no tangible solution will emerge. Therefore, third party involvement in the form of CSOs and NGOs are needed. At the same time, the issue of conflict resolution should also be deliberated in the State Assembly”, Prf. Bimola added.Brozendra Ningombam, Editor-in-Chief, ISTV News, Retd.Col. T. Hemo Singh, JitenYumnam, Centre for Research and Advocacy, Imphal, A. Mobi, Editor Guilds Manipur, Dr. B. Deben Sharma and Dr. Homen Thangjam also spoke on various topics in yesterday’s session.
