RPF advocates unity and collective struggle-I
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, February 24 2015: RPF President Irengbam Chaoren has called upon all the people of Manipur to shed all parochial outlooks and ethno-exclusive policies.

"It's not the time to keep the Nation which has a proud, unbroken written history of more than 2000 years divided and polarized on ethnic lines.

Rather than separating the Nation under the generic terms 'Naga', 'Kuki', 'Meitei' and 'Meitei Pangals', it is time to mould a collective identity of a unified Manipur.

Unity and only unity among the indigenous people can secure us and our future from the doom which is lurking quite distinctly on the horizon of our socio-economic and political landscape", the rebel leader stated categorically in a lengthy statement issued to the press on the occasion of the outfit's 36th raising day (February 25) which is also observed as the Independence Demand Day.

While conveying deepest regards to all the people of Manipur subjugated by the alleged alien rule, Chaoren asserted that one anxious question which has been constantly tormenting 'our' mind is 'when would we achieve our independence'.

This anxiety itself is a testimony of the fact that Manipuri people are suffering under 'colonial' rule.

Again people's continuous engagement with the question of Manipur's sovereignty testifies that freedom is dearest to 'our' people.

At the same time, the 'colonial' rule has been conspiring to exploit this common anxiety to their advantage.

In tandem with the economic growth of India, natural resources, lakes, mountains and forests of the land are being robbed away right in front of the eyes of the indigenous people.

In the process, a compra-dor class has been gaining strength out of economic packages, research projects, schemes and infrastructure development projects doled out by the 'colonial' masters.

The 'colonial' rule has been working overtime to demoralize and suppress the revolutionary movement.

The question of freedom of all those Nations which were left out of the d ecolonization process in the aftermath of the Second World War is still very much alive.

The question of sovereignty for Northern Ireland, Basque, Zapatista, Aceh, Kashmir, Assam, Manipur and many other Nations are becoming graver day by day.

Political transformation brought about by the Second World War across the planet presents a difficult and complicated existential crisis to all those Nations which are still struggling for independence.

Disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990's paved way for capitalism and capitalist interests to infiltrate into every sphere of man's life throughout the world.

Infiltration by capitalist interests produced serious impacts on liberation movements in different geographical locations of the planet.

In addition to the classical understanding of colonialism, a new variant called Neo-liberalism where the wealthy capitalist class supersedes the society and the masses started infesting the Nations which are already reeling under colonial rule.

In addition to physical occupation through military forces, colonial regimes are being sustained through international banks, financial institutions and corporate bodies.

International Financial Institutions (IFIs) have started invading Western South East Asia (WESEA) including Manipur.

Of the total money invested by Asian Development Bank (ADB) in India during 1986-2011, 34.64 per cent was in energy sector.

Transport and Telecommunications made up 30.89 per cent.

Maximum share of ADB's investment in WESEA (North East) goes to energy and transport.

This is a matter of serious concern.

Maximum investment in energy and transport sectors in a region where there is little or no industrial productivity is an undeniable manifestation of the Government of India's ploy to exploit the resources of WESEA for a protracted period in collusion with developed countries.

As concomitant impacts of this ploy, more and more hill areas of Manipur are being militarized and numerous colonies of Indian immigrants are being planted at the project sites and elsewhere, Chaoren remarked.

Countries which have had experience of colonialism often took the form and charac- ter of their colonial masters after achieving independence, for instance India.

Manipur, Tripura, Kashmir and many other Nations which regained sovereignty after the departure of British colonial rulers were forcibly annexed by India, said the rebel leader.

After the alleged forced annexation in 1949, Manipur was fast transformed into a dependent economy and its people are being suppressed under the boots of Indian military forces.

The incompatibility and conflict between WESEA and India have been demonstrated time and again beyond any doubt by the acts of discrimination and racism meted out to people from WESEA in different parts of India.

Rather than accepting that racism is ingrained in their worldview, majority of the Indian people have been trying to project people from WESEA as inferior to them racially and culturally.

Different forms and dimensions of people's struggles are all reflections of the armed revolutionary movement.

All these people's struggles collectively crystallize the future of the armed revolution.

Many youth who passed out from different colleges and universities of India understand the legitimacy of the armed movement and they have been continually taking up arms against the colonial regime.

"Our people, our students and our mothers and sisters have been struggling to free themselves from this wretched, bonded life", the rebel leader asserted.

In Manipur where a violent storm of liberation move- ment has been brewing for quite some time, people are ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of freedom and right to self-determination.

"Our glorious history is a living testimony and the same legacy is very much alive today.

There is no dearth of freedom fighters in Manipur as there is a well-defined course of revolutionary movement and a very clear objective", Chaoren claimed.

Comment