'Mt Manipur' political stunt, misleading act: PREPAK
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, October 23 2021:
The proscribed People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) has termed the recent announcement made by Union home minister Amit Shah of renaming Mount Harriet of Andaman and Nicobar Islands to 'Mt Manipur' as a political stunt to garner public attention and support in view of the forthcoming assembly election and to mislead the world about the history of Anglo-Manipuri war.
A statement issued by the organisation's charge d' affairs, publicity and propaganda LeibaakNgaakpa Luwang said that the renaming of Mt Harriet to Mt Manipur raises many questions - whether the Manipuri people would celebrate or worry.
In another word, it was part of the Government of India's attempt to rename locations named by British.
Earlier on December 30, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi renamed Ross Island as N taji Subhaschandra Bose Island and attempts are also being made to rename other islands in the Union Territory.
Unfortunately, the move was welcomed in Manipur by lighting candles and thanking Modi and Amit Shah as if Kangleipak (Manipur) has regained its lost sovereignty.
It could be termed as a desperate act to secure their seats by the politicians by appeasing their political superiors.
Kangleipak has a clear and undisputed history of 76 kings ruling for thousands of years and it never was part of India.
Kangleipak existed even before the Indian Union was formed.
The 1891 Anglo-Manipuri war was not related with India.
India was occupied by the British bit by bit but the British Queen Victoria declared war against Kangleipak on March 24, 1891, the statement said.
It further stated that the Anglo-Manipuri war of 1891 could be divided into two parts.
The first part was the attack at the royal palace to arrest Tikendrajit and it resulted in the execution of five British officers including Assam's chief commissioner James Wallace Quinton CSI (1834-1891) along with several British soldiers.
The second part was the follow up multi-pronged attack in the aftermath of the execution of British officers, which is known as the Anglo-Manipuri war.
The Manipuri princes and high ranking officers, who were well aware of the might of the British after their company and help with several guns to the king, fought against the mighty British to safeguard the sovereignty of Kangleipak led by their patriotism.
After winning the war, the British government killed Tikendrajit and Thangal General on August 13, 1891 at Pheidapung (BT Park) and Charai Thangal, Kajao (Pukhramba Phingang) and several others inside the Manipur Central Jail, Imphal.
Around 24 patriots including the then king Kullachandra Dhaja and Senapati Angousana were also sent to Kalapani in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Though they were sentenced to life in Kalapani, their sentences were revised in 1894 and the sentences of Kullachandra & Angousana were shortened to three years.
The two were brought to India and but barred from entering Kangleipak.
Likewise, sentences of the others were reduced to five and 10 years, but many were not allowed to enter Kangleipak.
Renaming Mt Harriet, where the martyrs were lodged for some years, to Mt Manipur is not a matter for rejoicing considering the present state.
The move could be termed as a political stunt to garner support of the electors of Manipur in the forthcoming state assembly election.
At the same time, it also raised the question of whether or not people of Kangleipak have accepted of being a true Indian.
It could also be termed as an act of ensuring the sovereign nations annexed by the Indian Union do not get loose from their clutch.
It is part of the policy to define people of Kangleipak as the generations of Arjun and Babrubahan and Kangleipak being part of the erstwhile Hindustan so that they could mislead the world by claiming the revolutionary movement for regaining sovereignty as an internal issue arising out of discontentment.
The Government of India has been trying to define the 1891 Anglo-Manipuri war, 1904 Nupi Laan, 1913 Thoubal revolt, 1917-19 Khongjai revolt, 1930s Zeliangrong revolt, and 1939 Nupi Laan as part of the Indian freedom struggle.
They are also trying to define the alliance with Netaji Subhaschandra Bose's Indian National Army as part of the Indian freedom struggle.
On the other hand, knowingly or unknowingly, Amit Shah said that Manipur had its own constitution and it could be an important incident in the history of the revolutionary movement for freedom.
It would be wise for Amit Shah to know that Kangleipak (Manipur) had two constitutions.
The first was Loiyumba Shilyen written during the reign of King Loiyumba (1074 - 1122) and the second constitution was the Manipur Constitution Act, 1947, which was written in 1947 after the British left Kangleipak from being a British protectorate.
King Bodhchandra was forced to sign the merger agreement on September 21, 1949 in Shillong but the agreement was not valid as per Indian Independence Act 1947, Manipur Constitution Act 1947 and Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969.So far, no Indian politicians have been able to say that the agreement is invalid and Manipur had its own constitution.
Amit Shah is the first to mention about the constitution.
As per the Manipur Constitution Act, 1947, the king was not authorised to sign the agreement or any treaty on behalf of Manipur.
The agreement could be valid if it was approved by the national assembly of the then Kangleipak or a general referendum of the public.
However, it was neither approved by the national assembly nor by the national convention of the public.
Recently, the union home minister of India gave recognition to the Constitution of Kangleipak (Manipur).
Other than the national assembly of a country, no other external force can dissolve the country's constitution.
India has no authority to dissolve the Constitution of Kangleipak.
Since home minister Amit Shah has given recognition to the Constitution, PREPAK thinks that India should initiate steps to once again make Kangleipak a sovereign nation, the statement added.
Comment
