Why do Prime Minister of India want Leishemba Sanajaoba to be Rajya Sabha MP of Manipur
- Part 2 -

Dr. Khomdon Lisam *

Meidingu Leishemba Sanajaoba, the King of Manipur at Langjing Achouba on February 25 2017

What are the strong points of the Section 57 of the Manipur State Constitution-Act (MSCA)-1947 and Article 374 of the Indian Constitution.

Revival of the Manipur State Constitution Act (MSCA) -1947 will be possible through implementation of section 57 of the Manipur State Constitution Act-1947 and Article 374 of the Indian Constitution.

The chapter X- General Clauses, Section 57 of the Manipur State Constitution Act-1947 states that
" where in any case circumstances arise which prevent the proper operation in law or in spirit of this Constitution Act, the Council (Manipur State Council (MSC) under the Maharajah ) of Manipur may at their discretion refer the matter for decision to such authority outside the state as may be decided hereafter and the decision of that authority shall be binding."

Probably the British stationed in Manipur could sense that the Government of India may try to abrogate or dissolve the MSCA-1947 and the innocent simpleton Manipuris may not be able to protect this MSCA -1947. That is why they have inserted this section -57 .

Here one may ask " who is the authority outside the state" to whom the MSC can refer for revival of operation of the Manipur Constitution Act-1947 ?". Naturally the Hon'ble Supreme Court or the Government of India may be the authority outside the state, who can authorise Manipur to operate the Manipur State Constitution Act-1947. (MSCA) but the risk of failure is very high because the operation of MSCA -1947 means independence of Manipur.

I was asking this question to some of my lawyer friends. One senior lawyer commented that the Manipur State Constitution Act-1947 is a protected constitution. It was drafted by F.F. Pearson, Political Agent and Chairman of the Constitution Making Committee and approved by Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari., Governor of Assam and Representative of the British Crown.

Therefore, Her Majesty, the Queen has got an obligation to revive the operation of the Manipur State Constitution Act-1947. Therefore , the Manipur State Council may refer the case to Her Majesty, the Queen. Therefore, we should read the Manipur State Constitution Act-1947 along with Article 374 of the Indian Constitution .

What the article 374 of the Indian Constitution says:-.

The Article 374 of the Constitution of India provides that " nothing in this constitution shall operate to invalidate the exercise of jurisdiction by his majesty in council to dispose of appeals and petitions from, or in respect of, any judgment, decree or order of any court within the territory of India in so far as the exercise of such jurisdiction is authorised by law, and any order of his majesty in council made on any such appeal or petition after the commencement of this institution shall for all purposes have effect as if it were an order or decree made by the Supreme Court in the exercise of the jurisdiction conferred on such court by this constitution".

This means that if the Manipur Government in exile in London win the case in her majesty's privy council court in London , then the Government of India should take it as a decision of the Supreme Court of India. The Government of India will be duty bound to implement the decision. This means independence of Manipur. if Manipur do not like to be independent, then they can bargain with the Government of India the terms and conditions etc favourable to Manipur.

The Pakistani media lapped up the opportunity to give the development a wide TV coverage. Leishemba Sanajaoba admitted that he had signed the document in 2013 but not at the time of departure of the party for London. but the State Government's hastily slapped a sedition charges against Yambem Biren Singh and Narengbam Samarjit Singh. The Chief Minister of Manipur said the cases had been referred to the special crime branch and the report of its findings would be handed over to the NIA .

Other powers of the Manipur State Constitution-Act (MSCA) -1947

The Manipur State Constitution Act (MSCA) -1947 guarantees the succession of the Titular King according to law and custom, to the Ningthou Gaddi of the state
o The succession to the throne shall be governed by the law of primogeniture provided that the heir must be the legitimate son of a marriage recognised by the council of ministers. the Maharaja shall after consultation with the council of ministers and the Assembly designate his heir. The common people has no say in the process. No body can dictate the procedure of succession or threaten the Maharaja to abdicate or to propose the name of the heir.

o It is also correct that the Manipur Palace Building is very old. The building was commissioned in 1908. For the last many years, it is leaking in some points. The probability of crumbling down one fine morning is very high. The State Government is duty bound to repair it very soon. if Leishemba Sanajaoba becomes an MP, he may be able to repair it..

What may be the role of the Manipur Palace in the State Politics

Some of the CSOs are asking the Titular King not to play politics in this matter. but the universal fact is that there is politics in every part of our existence. The Manipur Palace is the seat of the Manipur King or titular king and doing good work for the people. If the King has absolute power, this will be the nerve centre of all political activities.

if the King is the constitutional head , the King may give assent to any legislation. Presently, Her Majesty the Queen of United Kingdom is the Constitutional Head of 43 countries. The British people are very proud of the monarchy system in a democracy. They say, if the country does not have king /queen , they create the position of the president. Hence there should not be any bar on our titular king joining politics.

Rather, allowing our Titular King to become MP of Rajya Sabha will strengthen and give more power. in order to ensure proper and effective administration of the Manipur Palace, We need to have a customary law. What about the conditions of our village chiefs in the hills. Are the village chiefs not allowed to contest elections. I thing the titular king also should have the human and political rghts.

Why do Narendra Modi, the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India want Leishemba Sanajaoba to be the Rajya Sabha MP of Manipur.

Shri Narendra Modiji is a very far sighted man. The possible reasons may be as follows:-

1. to save Manipur Palace from becoming a centre of Peoples Independence Movement. –
The Hon'ble Prime Minister may be very much alarmed by the news of a legal fight in the Privy Council /Court of Her Majesty, the Queen of the U.K regarding restoration of the Manipur State Constitution Act-1947. Manipur State had a constitution on 1 January, 1947 while India has got a Constitution on 26 January, 1950. Manipur had a democratic government by establishing Manipur State Legislative Assembly on 26 November, 1948 whereas India had a democratic Lok Sabha on 17 april,1952.

Shri Narendra Modi-ji may be aware that he Manipur State Constitution Act-1947 is a living constitution . No National Political Party and no Parliament has been able to repeal the Act. He might be thinking that if Her Majesty's :Privy Council/ Court take a decision to support the revival of MSCA-1947, then the threat to India about Manipur becoming an Independent Country is real. This could be prevented only by Leishemba Sanajaoba. He needs to win Leishemba Sanajaoba on his side in the battle for restoration / /revival of the Manipur State Constitution Act-1947.

If the Manipur Government in Exile in London win the case in the Privy Council/ Court in London , then the Government of India should take it as a decision of the Supreme Court of India. The Government of \India will be duty bound to implement the decision. This means independence of Manipur. If Manipur does not like to be independent, they can bargain with the Government of India the terms and conditions etc.

The Pakistani media lapped up the opportunity to give the development a wide coverage. Leishemba Sanajoba admitted that he had signed the document in 2013 but not at time of departure of the party for London. but the state government's hastily slapped a sedition charges against Yambem Biren Singh and Narengbam Samarjit Singh. The Chief Minister of Manipur said the case had been referred to the special crime branch and the report of its findings would be handed over to the NIA . The case is not illegal. How can a case with the involvement of Queen of U.K be illegal.

2. Correction of historical blunders adopted in signing of the Manipur Merger Agreement on 21 September, 1949.

Shri Narendra Modi, Hon'ble Prime Minister of India is an ardent follower of Sardar Patel (1875–1950).. He must have read the procedures adopted and tactics used for forced merger of Manipur to India under the order of late Sardar Vallapbhai Patel, the then Union Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India.

He may be aware of the unpopularity of Sardar Patel in Manipur because of forced merger of Manipur to India although he was respected as the "Iron Man of India" for successful merger of 565 princely states to India.

The Government of India invaded Hyderabad for forcing the Nizam to merge Hyderabad with India. The Nizam of Hyderabad was a Muslim with Hindu population. "The Ooperation Polo" was the code name of the Hyderabad "Police Action" in September 1948. This is military operation in which 807 Hyderabad State Forces: were killed. According to Sunderlal Committee Report, 30,000–40,000 civilians were killed in the operation.

On 18 September , 2015 Narendra Modi-JI said " I salute those who helped in the merger of Hyderabad with the union of India. He lauded the vision of Sardar Patel and said that the BJP -led Government's decision on abrogation of Article 370 of Jammu and Kashmir was an inspiration from the former Home Minister of India.

Narendra Modi may be inclined to do something to heal the injury caused by the forced merger of Manipur with India during Nehru's regime, The Pakistan occupied Kashmir,( area 13,297sq.km) were lost to Pakistan , Akai Chin (38,000 sq. km.) which was a part of Ladakh was lost to china and Kabow Valley, which was a part of Manipur leased to Burma was lost to Burma without any parliamentary decision.

Narendra Modi-ji built the world's tallest statue of Vallabbhai Jhaverbhai Patel known as the Statue of Unity.(597 ft high ) a bronze-clad statue at a cost of 29.9 billion Rupees. The merger of Manipur to India was possible only with the tactics used by Sardar Patel. the unpopularity of Sardar Patel in Manipur may be removed by doing something special for Manipur.

Narendra Modi-ji must be knowing that he can not stop the Titular King Leishemba Sanajaoba exercising the power as the custodian of Manipuri culture, tradition, religion etc. He also may be aware of the unpopularity of Sardar Patel in Manipur because of forced merger of Manipur to India . Narendra Modi was not happy with the special status of Jammu and Kashmir by way of Article 370 of Indian Constitution .

He felt that this was made possible only because of Jawaharlal Nehru who did not allow Sardar Patel to deal with Jammu and Kashmir, He believed in one country, one constitution, one flag. that is why he abrogated article 370.

On 18 September , 2015 Narendra Modi hails those who helped in merger of Hyderabad with Union of India. He lauded the vision of Sardar Patel and said that the BJP-led Government's decision on abrogation of Article 30 of Jammu and kashmir was an inspiration from the former home minister of India. Narendra Modi may be aware of the forced merger of Manipur with India by putting the King under house arrest .

Therefore he may be inclined to do something good to heal the injury caused by the forced merger of Manipur with India. One thing he can immediately do is the apology to the people of Manipur on behalf of the Government of India and on behalf of Sardar Patel on the lines suggested by shri G.K. Pillai, ex-Union Home Secretary on 27 September, 2011

To be continued...