Armed rebel group the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SOREPA), Kangleipak, has called a 12-hour total shutdown across Manipur on October 15, from 5 am to 5 pm, in protest against what it describes as the forced merger of Manipur with India in 1949.
In a statement issued by its Secretary of Publicity and Organization, M.C. Yaifabi, the party said the shutdown would mark the day on which Manipur was declared merged with India on October 15, 1949, following the signing of the Manipur Merger Agreement by Maharaja Bodhachandra at Shillong on September 21, 1949.
SOREPA alleged that the Maharaja was taken to Shillong by Indian military personnel and compelled to sign the agreement under coercive circumstances. The party described Manipur’s incorporation into India as an act of colonial expansion and asserted that the people had the right to determine their own political future.
The statement called on the public to observe the shutdown and expressed support for boycotts, total shutdowns and general strikes organised by various groups. It also urged people to remember the events surrounding the merger and intensify what it described as the movement for the restoration of Manipur’s sovereignty.
SOREPA accused India of continuing colonial practices through political and economic domination, alleging that the existing administrative system in Manipur followed the pattern of British colonial governance. It argued that the effects of the merger extended beyond political control to the economic, social and cultural life of the people.
Invoking the principle of the right to self-determination, the party called for greater public awareness of Manipur’s history and the circumstances surrounding the 1949 agreement. It referred to the works of political and anti-colonial thinkers, including Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Frantz Fanon, Albert Memmi and Aimé Césaire, arguing that an understanding of social history and colonialism was necessary to advance the movement.
The statement also called for stronger grassroots organisations, greater economic self-reliance, improved local markets and financial systems, and increased participation by young people in building local institutions.
SOREPA urged teachers, students and intellectuals to engage in discussions on Manipur’s history, society and political status, asserting that the movement for self-determination should be supported by historical understanding and social organisation.