Shutdown called on Aug 15, as in previous years
CorCom boycotts I-Day
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 11 2025: As in the previous years, the CorCom has decided to boycott Independence Day of India this year too.

As part of the boycott, there will be total shutdown all over Manipur from 1 am to 6.30 pm on August 15, said a press release issued by the CorCom.

It added that essential services, medical, electricity, water supply, fire service, press and religious activities will be exempted from the purview of the shutdown.

The CorCom asserted that Manipur (Kangleipak) was a self-sufficient, sovereign Nation with a written history spanning over 2000 years.

Even though Manipur was occupied by the British in 1891, Queen Victoria respected the political status of Manipur and she did not annex Manipur to British India, said the press release issued by CorCom.

After the lapse of British paramountcy, Manipur once again became an independent country and a democratically elected Government was formed with representatives from all communities.

Addressing the first session of the Manipur (Kangleipak) National Assembly on October 18, 1948, Maharaj Bodhachandra, who was then the Constitutional head of the democratic Government, declared that the territorial size of Manipur was 8650 square miles.

Maharaj Bodhachandra said.

"Earlier, the territory of Kangleipak extended to Sibasagar's Sanakhong in the North, Ningthi River to the South, Nongpok Ningthi to the East and Chandrapur (Cachar) in the West.

Its present territorial size is 8650 square miles.

"When Manipur (Kangleipak) was a powerful kingdom, all the hill people and plain people lived together as one and they successfully defended the kingdom from all external threats and challenges till 1891."Now the British rule of 56 years has ended.

They have gone back.

Now the hill people and plain people can work together for the welfare of the Nation.

As we are destined, we are once again living together.

Hill people and plain people have one thought and one vision" .

These words of Maharaj Bodhachandra vividly reflect the status of Manipur (Kangleipak) during his time and earlier, the CorCom remarked.

After Maharaj Bodhachandra was forced to sign the Manipur Merger Agreement on September 21, 1949 under duress, India forcibly annexed Manipur on October 15, 1949 .

This was an open act of aggression.

The Manipur National Assembly (Parliament) instead of ratifying the Manipur Merger Agreement rejected it on September 28, 1949 .

By forcibly annexing Manipur, India violated the international law, UN Charter, Indian Independence Act (HA) 1947, Manipur (Kangleipak) State Constitution Act (MSCA) 1947 and also the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT), 1969, alleged CorCom.

For all these reasons, it should be assumed from the perspective of international law that the sovereignty of Manipur/ Kangleipak is still intact, the CorCom claimed.

After forcibly annexing Manipur.

India set in motion a sinister plot to destroy the integrity of Manipur and sowed seeds of discord among communities, it alleged.

The Indian Parliament enacted the Manipur Land Revenue & Land Reforms Act, 1960 and it drew sharp line of division between the hills and the valley.

Now the seeds of discord sown decades back by India have matured and as a result Naga, Kuki and Meitei have been sharply polarised.

It has now become very clear that the unrest seen today in Manipur (Kangleipak) is an outcome of the proxy war being waged by the Government of India by using foreign mercenaries in the name of Suspension of Operation to suppress the freedom struggle of Manipur, India's geopolitics which is exploiting the restive situation of Myanmar and its policy to keep Manipur under its occupation for eternity, it alleged.

The Meitei-Kuki conflict was created to wipe out all aspirations for sovereignty and erase the entire history of Manipur/Kangleipak, it said.

In association with well armed terrorists from amongst the Kukis, India attacked all unarmed communities, particularly Meiteis, it alleged.

The huge numbers of Indian armed forces sent to Manipur are not here to contain the violence but they are here to sustain it, the CorCom said.

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