ZUF affirms on Homeland demand
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, February 25 2016:
Extending
heartiest greetings to the
'warriors' of Zeliangrongs and
the people on the occasion of the
5
th
Raising Day of the
Zeliangrong United Front,
chairman of the outfit Kamson
has appealed to the Government
of India to grant the long
standing statehood demand of
the Zeliangrongs at the earliest.
In a message to the people
on the occasion of its Raising
Day, Kamson appealed to all
the Zeliangrongs, civil socie-
ties, Churches and institutions
of indigenous faiths and other
neighbouring communities to
extend cooperation to the
movement.
It is the duty of
every Zeliangrong to extent
fullest cooperation and soli-
darity toward this noble
cause.
He exhorted all the
Rehangs/Rekhangs
(warriors)
to be fully prepared for fur-
ther course of actions until the
goal is achieved.
He urged all concerned to
seek the blessings of the Al-
mighty for wisdom, strength
and unity so that the
Zeliangrongs including the
ZUF can work together till
the fulfilment of the long
cherished dream of Haipou
Jadonang, Rani Gaidinliu and
other patriots.
He said that the present
struggle of the ZUF is not
seeking secession from India
but demanding a
"Common
Homeland
"
within the Union
of India for the fragmented
Zeliangrong territories which
were divided by the British
rulers and
continued in inde-
pendent India.
Haipou
Jadonang and Rani Gaidinliu
fought against the British
forces for the freedom but the
British rulers hanged Haipou
Jadonang on Aug 29, 1931 at
Imphal Jail and sent Rani
Gaidinliu to life imprisonment
in 1933 after a mock trial.
The
conspiracy was hatched by JC
Higgins a British Political
Agent of Manipur because the
leaders challenged their sup-
pressive regime, and sought
freedom from external rule.
Establishment of
Makaam
Gwangdi
was the dream of
Haipou Jadonang and his
Lieutenant Rani Gaidinliu.
The
British described this move-
ment as the
Naga Raj
Movement
, it said.
After India's Independence
Rani Gaidinliu went under-
ground again in 1960 to fight
against fundamentalist Chris-
tian Naga undergrounds for
their dictatorial actions and
also to demand the integration
of Zeliangrong areas into a
single 'Administrative Unit'.
In 1996, she along with her
Rehangs/Rekhangs
came
overground again and since
then Rani Gaidinliu adopted
non-violence and democratic
means to pressurize the Gov-
ernment of India to grant her
demand.
She submitted
memoranda to Indira Gandhi,
the then Prime Minister of
India.
In 1980, the Zeliangrong
People Conv
ention (ZPC)
was formed under the leader-
ship of Rani G
aidinliu to lead
the movement for Zeliangrong
State/Homeland within the
Union of India.
The ZPC sub-
mitted Memoranda at different
period of times to the Indian
Prime Minister including
Rajiv Gandhi to consider the
genuine demand of the
Zeliangrong peopl
e, it said.
The assurance of Indira
Gandhi on December 29, 1983
for "
Anything sort of
Zeliangrong State/Homeland'
and Buta Singh, the then
Home Minister assurance of
16
th
August, 1986 for 'Inte-
gration
of
the Zelianrong
Areas into a Single Terri-
tory"
have not been fulfilled
till today, it said.
Rani
Gaidinliu passed away in 1993
without realising her cherished
dream.
It is very unfortunate
to note that leaders of the larg-
est democracy of the world
could not keep their assurances
to grant the genuine demand
of the down trodden
Zeliangrongs, it
said.
It is the collective responsi-
bility of the Zeliangrongs to
protect and preserve the in-
valuable asset of Zeliangrong
territory from further erosion.
ZUF was formed on Feb-
ruary 25, 2011 with the sole
objective of fulfilling the de-
mand of the past leaders.
It
had submitted a memorandum
to the then Prime Minister of
India Dr Manmohan Singh
demanding Statehood
for the
Zeliangrongs and kindred
tribes on April 18, 2013 fol-
lowed by submission of
another memorandum to
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on February 19, 2015 .
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