ZUF details Zeliangrong Movement-II
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, March 03 2023:
From an early age, Haipou Jadonang was a deeply spiritual person with divine gifts to communed with God whom he identified as "Tingkao Ragwangh" .
The political ideology of Jadonang under the banner "Makaamei Rui Gwangh Tu Puni" to establish a self-rule Naga Raj or Makaam Gwangdih was a direct challenge to the British empire and this led to direct confrontation between the colonial powers and supporters of Jadonang, said a release issued by Zeliangrong United Front.
Through this political struggle, Zeliangrong Movement was in sync with the Indian freedom movement going on in other parts of the country led by Mahatma Gandhi and other armed revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Subhash Chandra Bose, Chandrashekhar Azad, etc.
In order to oust the British supremacy, Jadonang raised a standing army of 500 men and women at one point of time.
He enrolled willing youths who were designated as"Riphian" and gave them training in military drills, weapons handling, intelligence gathering, secret coding of names and commands, martial combat, etc.
The Riphians strictly followed the instruction of their supreme commander Jadonang and often toured along with him.
By February 1931, British officials have agreed that Jadonang's movement had to be suppressed permanently and on February 19, 1931, Jadonang was imprisoned in Silchar Jail, after being arrested on false implication of murder charges while returning from Bhuvan cave with Gaidinliu and 600 other followers.
On June 13, 1931, Jadonang was declared guilty of the murder at a trial in Imphal and was hanged to death on August 29, 1931 .
Rani Gaidinliu & The Zeliangrong Movement
Soon after the death of Jadonang, Rani Gaidinliu began to assume the leadership role of the Movement left behind by her leader and mentor.
The Zeliangrong movement continued by Rani Gaidinliu had its philosophy, principle, vision and goal built upon the premise that the Zeliangrong people are from one common patriarch.
She devoted all her life to the cause of Zeliangrong unity and integrity with the objective of establishing a common Homeland and self-determination of the Zeliangrong people.
Rani Gaidinliu's subsequent arrest in 1932 followed by her life imprisonment impacted the Zeliangrong movement and was brought to a complete stand still.
The second part of the Zeliangrong Movement started with the release of Rani Gaidinliu from jail after India got independence.
After her release, Gaidinliu was forced to be confined in a village in the Tuensang area of present Nagaland.
Following her meeting with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, she started the second phase of her movement taking full cognizance of the changed environment and demanded Separate State for the Zeliangrong people within the Union of India.
This movement culminated into the formation of Zeliangrong People's Convention (ZPC) in 1980 with Rani Gaidinliu as its first president to demand Homeland for her people.