Imphal, October 11 2008: The Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), Manipur People's Liberation Front (MPLF) and Tripura People's Democratic Front (TPDF) have jointly appealed to the fraternal peoples of Western South East Asia (the so called North East region) to strengthen their traditional fraternity and fight together to overthrow the alien rule from the region.

Reiterating their common stand on the alleged annexation of the three erstwhile independent kingdoms, the three outfits recounted how these independent kingdoms were 'annexed' by the Indian Union.

A joint statement issued today said soon after the end of British rule in South Asian sub-continent on August 14-15, 1947, the Dominion of India embarked upon an aggressive policy of expansion, particularly towards the East.

Kamatapur, Manipur and Tripura were the first victims of this expansionist policy, it alleged.

Kamatapur was annexed by the Indian Union after coercing king Jagadwipendra Narayan to sign the 'merger agreement' on August 20, 1948 against his own will and that of his people.

After its annexation, Kamatapur was merged with the present State of West Bengal on January 1, 1950, very much against the aspirations of the Kamatapuris, recalled the three outfits.

In a more or less similar manner, Manipur was also annexed after keeping its king Bodhchandra under house arrest for three days at Shillong during which the king was subjected to various kinds of psychological pressure.

The then Governor of Assam coerced the Manipuri king to sign the treacherous 'Manipur Merger Agreement' on September 21, 1949 .

To preempt any opposition and resistance from the elected Manipur State Assembly, the Dominion of India abolished the elected Manipur State Assembly and dismissed the popular Government as well on the very day of annexation by a mere executive order, asserted the outfits.

In the meantime, there was a huge influx of Hindu Bengali refugees into Tripura from the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) as a result communal riots following India-Pakistan partition in 1947 .

During this crucial period, a rumour was spread around, possibly by Indian agents, that some Muslim leaders in Tripura were hatching a conspiracy to overthrow the king who was then a minor so as to merge Tripura with East Pakistan, it maintained.

Apprehensive of his son's fate, queen regent Kanchan Prabha Devi approached the Indian Government for help.

They agreed to help on condition that the queen regent sign the 'Tripura Merger Agreement'.

Left with no other alternative, she signed the agreement on September 9, 1949 .

Observing that the small Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim was the latest victim of India's expansionist policy, the outfits decried that there were no reaction from the international community, except China in the case of Sikkim, in all these alleged cases of Indian annexations.

Saying that the region is now on the warpath to reassert the right to self-determination, the outfits claimed that the alien rule will be ultimately overthrown from the region by its collective strength despite temporary setbacks caused by the Central Government's "divide and rule policy".

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