Pambei-led UNLF seeks suggestions-6
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 28 2024:

Contd from previous issue

The liberation struggle has been replaced or overshadowed by diverse struggles for ethnic identities, territorial control, economic and cultural autonomy, and as a result communities living together in Manipur have been sharply polarised, the Pambei-led UNLF's Central Committee asserted.

It said that the ongoing conflict has been complicated by Manipur's location in the North Eastern comer of India, ethnic relationships shared by people settled across the India-Myanmar border and the trans-border militancy.

Nonetheless, a solution to the ethnic contradictions can be explored on the basis of the idea of Manipur.

The Manipur State Constitution which came into effect from January 1948 guaranteed equal rights to both the hill people and the plain people and it was a progressive constitution of the time.

The Manipur Constitution Act limited the king's power to ceremonial roles while the actual executive power was handed over to the National Assembly elected by the people through election.

The National Assembly established under the Manipur Constitution Act fairly represented all the hill people and plain people.

The successful establishment of the National Assembly clearly reflected the collective commitment to protect Manipur's right to self-determination and its territorial integrity, the Central Committee remarked.

The alleged forceful and illegal annexation of Manipur into the Indian Union after unceremoniously abolishing the elected National Assembly is one major factor for the Manipur-India conflict, it reiterated.

While many people see Manipur as a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic State where all the people are equally represented, some others have been demanding ethnoexclusive autonomy or separate administration or special protection.

There is no denying the fact that the alleged forceful annexation of Manipur into the Dominion of India in 1949 is the root cause of the inter-community conflicts seen today in the State.

In fact, the alleged forceful annexation is the primary cause of all the issues and problems plaguing Manipur at present, it asserted.

Although there are intercommunity conflicts in Manipur, there is also a strong bond of interdependence among the communities.

The outfit firmly believes in the people's power through 'mass line decisions' rather than in imagined empty political rhetoric.

"One of our political principles is from the masses to the masses.

Mass line basically means collection of suggestions and wisdom from the masses and synthesizing them into policies and again collection of feedback from the masses", the Central Committee said.

As the outfit always pays special attention to cyclical interaction between the masses and leaders, collection of suggestions and inputs from the masses is indispensable, it said.

It then appealed to all the people to participate in resolving the Manipur-India conflict in a satisfactory manner.

It appealed to the people to share suggestions and inputs which would be helpful-to the outfit as and when a formal negotiation is initiated with the Government of India.

It further appealed to all the people to point out without any fear all the lapses and loopholes, if there is any in the party's policies and activities.

The Pambei-led UNLF's Central Committee concluded by offering the highest revolutionary salute to all the founders of the party, leaders and revolutionary fighters who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of the revolutionary movement.

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