A clandestine announcement or does it have another purpose
- Imphal Times Editorial :: October 31 2019 -

An announcement made by two persons from the state of Manipur claiming to be representatives of the King Leishemba Sanajaoba regarding the formation of an exile government separated from India during a press conference held at London took everyone by surprise.

The two persons - Yambem Biren who introduced themselves as the Chief Minister of Manipur state council and Narengbam Samarjit Minister of External Affairs and Defence of Manipur State Council, under the King of Manipur, was however, clarified by the titular King Leishemba Sanajaoba as false and fabricated.

“They came to me seeking authorization for collection of historical elements and records from the British government and I simply said yes and signed and authorization as it is a good work, but I had no idea of what they have announced”, Leishemba clarified soon after the news went viral.

Interestingly, the duo reportedly produced a document showing that His Highness the Maharaja of Manipur had authorised them by the Order No. 12 of 2013 dated the March 15, 2013 to solve the political problems of the State of Manipur.

What is more interesting is that Narengbam Samarjit who claimed to be Minister of External Affairs and Defence of Manipur State Council headed by the King of Manipur is also a convenor of a political party called NEIDP and had a field candidate in the recent Lok Sabha Election in the Inner Manipur Parliamentary constituency.

He is not only the convenor of the Political Party but also a business giant who run banking business, marketing, industries among others.

Thousands of Manipuri people have trusted his firm called Salai Pvt. Ltd. who gave 3% interest every month to whoever had invested to his company.

The banking firm he runs reportedly is registered under the Bombay Money Laundering Act.

Unofficial report said that as many as 800 people are being employed at his firm.

Many high profile politicians including former MLAs are now members of the political party he established and lead.

During last Lok Sabha Election, unofficial source said that the candidate he field was financed by him from his firm.

Many people wander how he was able to earn so much money within such a short span and the answer for that from his near and dear one is that - they come from foreign country.

To someone who does not understand how foreign fund are invested to NGOs or Bankers, they may have believed , but to those who knows little about how to get foreign funding, the kind of story his associate gave was a total lie.

No foreign funding come directly to the NGO by skipping the government of India and also the government of the state.

It is at the juncture when people started talking about legitimacy in the modus operandi of Salai Pvt Ltd or the SMART society which gave 3% interest to every investor every month, that Narengbam Samarjit announced the controversial statement of running an exile government that too from Central London.

The kind of attention he drew was in one way appreciative as he is perhaps the only person who tells the history and the reality of the erstwhile kingdom to the world platform.

Whatever, he told in front of the international media are all facts and that Manipur’s territorial entity and its history has been let known to the world.

The conflict between India and Manipur is a long pending issue.

Since the time India annexed Manipur there has been movement from armed rebel groups for restoration of the freedom of the erstwhile kingdom.

The Government of India till today has never spell any words regarding the conflict.

If Samerjit succeed in getting recognition about the existence of an exile government of Manipur by the United Nation it will perhaps get noticed from the world community.

But then people still have to wait and watch what will be the outcome of his announcement of an exile government of Manipur.