PREPAK Chairman underscores unity, solidarity-I
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, October 08 2022:
The proscribed PREPAK has underscored the growing need for unity and solidarity among the people of Kangleipak.
A statement issued by the outfit's Interim Council Chairman Aheiba Angom on the 45th foundation day of PREPAK (October 9) called upon one and all to re-strengthen unity and obligation.
It also conveyed best wishes to the people of both the hills and the valley, comrades of the party, all revolu- tionary groups fighting for restoration of the lost independence of the motherland, and those similar fellow groups in the WeSEA region and the media fraternity.
Without the strength of unity, revolution for independence will not find success.
The first obligation now is to generate the power of solidarity and to construct an unbreachable unity of spirit by sorting out all differences, and to engage the Indian military forces, the Chairman asserted.
Pointing out that all the people of Kangleipak grew up together in harmony, Aheiba Angom emphasised on the growing need to bring unity and solidarity among the people in order to make Kangleipak a welfare State.
Since the alleged annexation of Kangleipak by India, in contravention of Indian Independence Act 1947, Manipur Constitution Act 1947, International Law and provisions of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969, also known as Treaty on Treaties, all the existing language, faith, customs, culture, conventions and territorial boundary peculiar to an independent Nation have been severely impaired, according to the statement.
Though the area of Kangleipak after the annexation was reduced to 22,327 sq Kms, King Bodhachandra in his address at the first National Assembly of indepen- dent Kangleipak on October 18, 1948 stated that Kangleipak extended her dominion over a wide area reaching as far as the southern portion of China in the North, the gold mine in the Sibasagar Valley, the Chindwin River in the East and South, and Chandrapore (Cachar) in the West.
The official proclamation of the king is the evidence of the truth of the international boundary of the once independent Kangleipak, the rebel leader asserted.
The number of landless people in Kangleipak rose sharply from 22-23 per cent in 1990-91 to 40 per cent in 2011-12 .
At the same time, there is no policy of land use in Kangleipak and no land reform has been implemented so far.
If Kangleipak should be self-sufficient in food production, all the efforts cannot be limited to the valley area which constitutes only 8 per cent of the total geographical area.
Instead, a complete land reform should be executed first after classifying the lands in both the hills and the valley.
But the divide and rule policy adopted by India to create discord and disunity between the hills and the valley has made it unsuccessful, it alleged.
One major activity of the Government of India is consolidating its alleged occupation of Kangleipak.
In this direction, in spite of people's resistance, Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was enforced in 2019 after extending the toothless Inner Line Permit (ILP) only to transform the Kanglei people into 'Hindustani' for all time, the Chairman alleged.
The Government of India has been working consistently to wipe off all indigenous language, faith, attire, culture, customs, convention and ritual practices by replacing them with the Hindustani culture, tradition and other such elements.
In addition, attempts are also being made to manipulate the history of independent Kangleipak and incorporate it within the history of Hindustan.
India has been trying to falsely portray the Kanglei people's battles against the colonial British such as Anglo-Manipuri War of 1891, Khongjai Lal, Zeliangrong Movement led by Haipou Jadonang and Rani Gaidinliu as parts of India's war or movement against the British, it remarked.
In the course of celebrating 75 years of India's independence in the form of "Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav", the portraits of three brave women patriots of WESEA region � Rani Gaidinliu of Kangleipak, Lalnu Ropuiliani of Mizoram and Phan Nonglait of Meghalaya - who firmly stood against the colonial British were installed on the wall of Red Fort in Delhi on August 15.It was a deceptive attempt portray them as freedom fighters of India.
Such manipulation is directed at assimilating the politics, culture, and ethnic identity of the people of WESEA region into the Indian mainstream, it alleged.
The Government of India's plan to develop memorials for Haipou Jadonang and Rani Gaidinliu is motivated by the same spirit, Aheiba Angom said.
Even though Kangleipak has been allegedly annexed, the spirit of freedom is very much alive in the hearts of all Kanglei people and it can never be extinguished, he asserted.
The Chairman went on to claim that the PREPAK has endeavouring at its utmost level to carry forward a collective independence struggle by consolidating the people of all the communities inhabiting Kangleipak.
However a handful of people who have fallen prey to Indian Government and its agents have been circulating a false narrative among the people, particularly the hill people that the independence struggle is meant only for the valley.
The Government of India has been scheming to prevent revolutionaries who have been fighting for the whole of Kangleipak from opening camps in the hills by forming ethnic armies at several parts of the hills behind the cloak of peace talk and SoO.
India has been using the elections held in Kangleipak from time to time as a highly effective weapon for repressing the independence movement of the people.
The youth have been snared by the temptations of election and they are being exploited as 'election warriors' who otherwise should be involved in the freedom struggle, reads the statement.
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