RPF sets record straight
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, September 23 2022:
Reiterating that the PLA's Captain Lucky, Captain Sanjit and Captain Ayangba were killed in an ambush laid by Indian military forces on September 17 at a location in Kamjong district, the proscribed RPF has clarified that the ambush was carried out by 21 Para SF of the Indian Army, 5 Assam Rifles and a hostile mercenary group.
A press release issued by the outfit's Deputy Secretary, Publicity Roben Khuman said that this clarification has been necessitated by news reports published in some sections of media as they contained elements which can confuse the masses and create animosity among different ethnic groups.
Several agencies of the Government of India have been indulging in different covert and over strategies to suppress the people of Manipur and creating divisions among the communities is one such strategy, it alleged.
One common strategy of all colonial rulers is 'divide and rule', it asserted.
Creating animosity and igniting conflicts among different communities is one convenient strategy of the Government of India, it alleged.
Although colonialism is disdained by majority of the people these days, India has been working hard to transform itself as a leading proponent of colonialism, it alleged.
In the collective history of independent Manipur, there was no instance of enmity or conflict among the indigenous communities of the State.
However, some communities can be seen taking ethno-exclusive positions after Manipur was forcefully merged into the Indian, the outfit alleged.
Categorically stating that the RPF never supports such ethno-exclusive ideas and activities, the outfit informed that they have been closely monitoring all activities driven by sectarian or communal politics.
Manipur is not a place which is exclusively or predominantly inhabited by a single community.
Many communities have been living together in the State in peace and harmony.
All the communities of both the hills and they valley were represented in the elected Government formed after Manipur achieved independence from British colonial rule.
However, after Manipur was forcibly merged into the Indian Union, seeds of distrust and conflict were sown among the different communities, it alleged.
The outfit asserted that the history of Manipur is a composite history and the liberation movement is also a composite struggle.
The Government of India is aware of this fact.
That is why, New Delhi has been scheming to strain and snap the bond shared by different communities of Manipur in order to slow down the liberation movement, the RPF alleged.
It said that the RPF's liberation is not for a single or some communities but it is for all the people of Manipur who belong to different communities.
Putting faith in the outfit's long liberation struggle, people of all communities joined the movement irrespective of religious affiliation and ethnicity, it said.
Not a single community has ever opposed or worked against the outfit's liberation movement although a few arms and drug smugglers who are settled in border areas have been working against the movement at the instance of India.
These people will do anything if they will get money and they may belong to any community, it continued.
Just because they are working against the movement, their whole communities cannot be blamed, the outfit said.
To the RPF, those who have fallen prey to the overt and covert strategies of India are ignorant of the land's environment and history.
All the people who have been working to safeguard the integrity of Manipur must stand firm against all those agencies of India which have been scheming to create divisions, and focus on protecting the integrity of Manipur and restoration of its sovereignty, it added.