PREPAK declares stand against Manipur Statehood Day observation

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IMPHAL: The proscribed People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) has urged the public not to take part in the 48th Statehood Day which the state government is making preparations to observe. 

There are no valid grounds for the state government to observe the so-called, ‘Statehood Day’ which has been annually observed since 1972 to celebrate Manipur’s attainment of statehood, said a release issued by secretary-in-charge, publicity and propaganda, Leibaak Ngaakpa Luwang.  

Although the people of Manipur are being presented as dependent subjects of the colonial administration of India, they are still taking a firm stance against oppression till date, it stated. PREPAK will keep on spreading the message of liberation and continue holding the resistance with support from the public, it added.

The state leaders and those in the administration must wake up and realise the fact that when the state runs into a certain catastrophe in the future, they cannot escape from it and will be sharing the same fate with the people, it stated.

The release further continued, history has shown that Kangliepak (Manipur) was once an independent nation having a 2000-year-old history. It was forcefully merged into the Indian union on September 21, 1949 by making the then King Budhachandra sign the merger agreement under duress in Shillong, it asserted.

The position of the former independent Kingdom was reduced to part C state under the Indian Union on January 21, 1972, it stated. Afterwards, the colonial India has been putting full efforts towards a complete obliteration of the culture, traditions and lifestyle of the indigenous people, the release maintained.

To achieve complete subjugation of the people, the economy has been cut off and rights of the people have been stolen, it stated, adding, to achieve its target of cultural assimilation, India has been using its agents and paid scholars to spread false information and misinterpreting history of the region. 

The people are made to forget that Kangleipak (Manipur) was once an independent nation, the release added.

Source: Imphal Free Press