CorCom advocates collective Nationalism-I
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 07 2022: Sharing its thoughts and perspectives on different issues and challenges besieging the State, the CorCom has called upon all the ethnic groups of Manipur (Kangleipak) to come together and build collective Nationalism based on 'co-existence, collective struggle and collective development' .

A statement issued by the CorCom Publicity Committee on the 11th foundation day (July 8) of the committee asserted that all the people of the land are victims of the Government of India's alleged deceitful policies and collective Nationalism can certainly free the land from the alien rule.

Paying homage to all the people who had laid down their lives in the course of the liberation movement, the CorCom has conveyed gratitude to all the people who have been standing firm by the revolutionary movement in the face of all the repressive measures unleashed by adversary forces.

It also conveyed best wishes to all revolutionary groups and peoples of WESEA.

Even though Manipur fell into British colonial rule for some period, the foreign occupation could not destroy Manipur's legacy of sovereignty.

The colonial rulers brought Kangleipak under an administrative system which tended to draw a line of division between the hill people and plain people but it could not destroy the economic relationship, the history of collective existence and the collective yearning for freedom, it said.

Even though Manipur regained its independence in 1947, it again fell into the hands of another imperial power in 1949 .

Soon after alleged annexation of Manipur and other independent Nations of WESEA, India started developing the whole WESEA region as a frontier.

Not long after, Manipur which was economically self-reliant was reduced to the status of a dependent economy by transforming the State into a captive market, it alleged.

The CorCom continued that the idea of developing the WESEA as a frontier could not be fully realised by just taking control of the region's economy, cultures and religious practices.

In the name of suppressing the State's liberation movement, regular army personnel who should be called into action in times of military confrontation between two independent countries were deployed in Manipur and all the civilians, both hill people and valley people, have been bearing the brunt of such military deployment, it alleged.

Given the suppression of all indigenous movements and violation of human rights in WESEA by India, it is time for the international community and the United Nations to recognise the armed conflict seen in the region as an international conflict as per the Geneva Conventions 1949, the CorCom claimed.

As part of its strategy to suppress the liberation movement by appeasing other countries, the Government of India has been giving away parts of Manipur's territory to a neighbouring country.

At the same time, the Government of India is actively engaged in a cultural invasion and this offensive has severely affected the culture and language of Kangleipak.

Acknowledging the grim reality, the UNESCO has already declared that the Manipuri language may become extinct sooner rather than later, it said.

The Government of India's policy of liberalisation which started in 1991 has had serious impacts on WESEA and Manipur.

In the name of bringing economic development, construction of road infrastructure and providing connectivity to South East Asia, the Look East/Act East police is being used as a weapon against the liberation movement, it alleged.

The extradition treaty signed by India with Bangladesh and Thailand in 2013 was a strategy to suppress the nationality movements of WESEA.

The Government of India has also been working relentlessly to insert several provisions on security in the ASEAN-India Plan of Action 2015, the CorCom alleged.

It further accused the Government of India of viewing WESEA which shares 1643 Kms of boundary with Myanmar as a transit for its external affairs.

By building forts, both on land and waterways, in the name of the Kaladan Project, the Government of India has been scheming to suppress the economy and people's movements of WESEA.

In the name of the Look East Policy, the Government of India has been following a policy of militarisation by providing T-55 tanks, BN-2 Islander maritime surveillance aircraft and deck-based air defence guns to a neighbouring country, it said.

Apart from projecting the indigenous peoples' movements of WESEA in the wrong light, the Government of India has been scheming continuously to suppress these movements in the garb of fighting terrorism and trans-national crimes through the platform called Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) which came into being in 1997, the CorCom continued.

Conversion of Manipur into a big market for drugs and the impacts of drug menace on the youth are really alarming, it remarked.

Even though manufacturing of opium is banned under the NDPS Act 1985, both the Government and its military forces always remain blind to extensive poppy plantation in Manipur, it alleged.

Of late, many people have been asking whether Indian army, paramilitary forces (particularly Assam Rifles) and armed groups under SoO pact are supporting poppy plantation in the hill areas of the State because there are so many camps of army, paramilitary forces and SoO groups not far away from the poppy plantations, it continued.

There are reports that poppy is cultivated in Manipur on not less than 7000 acres, according to the CorCom.

Today it is clear that Manipur has been deliberately made a capital of drugs.

Even the UNDP has identified Manipur as a 'dark spot' of WESEA which has been severely affected by drugs, it continued.

The Government of India can never deny that its military establishments, State police and politicians are heavily involved in drug businesses.

People are witnesses to the arrests of many influential people including a Lieutenant Colonel of the Indian Army and the Chairman of Chandel Autonomous District Council along with huge quantities of drugs, it said.

What is even more disturbing is the rise of extensive poppy plantations driven by communal mindsets.

A handful of people who have been scheming to sharpen communal outlooks are playing ethnic cards.

Some pseudo hill leaders are engaging poor hill people as labourers and these pseudo leaders have been spewing venoms of communal hatred during elections and thus driving wedges between hill people and plain people, the CorCom continued.

However, ordinary hill people do not get the benefits of poppy plantation.

All the benefits go to wealthy and powerful investors, it said.

It is necessary for every one to understand that poppy plantation leads to massive deforestation, ecological imbalance and presents a very grim future for the younger generations, it asserted.

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