ASUK calls general strike on Oct 15
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, October 13 2022:
Alliance for Socialist Unity, Kangleipak (ASUK) has imposed a general strike on October 15, the day Kangleipak/Manipur was merged to Indian Union in 1949, effective from 6am to 6pm and called upon the people to support the strike like every year.
Medical, media and religious services, however, will be exempted from the purview of the strike, informed ASUK publicity committee convener S Mangai in a statement.
According to ASUK, Kangleipak/Manipur regained sovereignty from the British on the night of August 14, 1947 and accordingly conducted democratic election and had Manipur State Assembly on October 18, 1948 after adopting the Manipur State Constitution Act, 1947 .
However, independent Manipur was forced to sign on merger document on September 21, 1949 and accordingly became part of Indian Dominion as Part-C state on October 15, 1949 .
Revolutionary groups fighting to restore Manipur's sovereign status along with the people have been observing October 15 as National Black Day every year in protest against India's forcible occupation, the ASUK statement said, adding that the protest will continue until Kangleipak/Manipur regains its sovereignty.
According to the statement, people of Kangleipak/Manipur are living as slaves of colonial administration while the ruling elites of India are crushing 21 indigenous people of the once sovereign nation using the military prowess.
Apart from this, entire people of Kangleipak/Manipur are now drowned in Pan Indian Identity after accepting and agreeing under duress as Indians and coloured colonial administration.
To escape from this situation, continuous challenge against the colonial administration is required and the line of the national contradiction between Manipur and India must be made clearer, the ASUK said.
When looked into the past, Manipur was never part of pre-history and proto-history of India and never became India's native state historically, politically and geographically but existed as a sovereign nation of South East Asia with independent history, the ASUK said and maintained that becoming part of India after the merger agreement is the root cause of never-ending socio-political issues and suffering of the present generation.
In order to give clear meaning of merger agreement and ongoing sovereignty movement to the latest generation, protest against India's forcible occupation of Kangleipak/ Manipur must be conducted courageously and drastically, ASUK added.