Imphal: The Alliance for Socialist Unity, Kangleipak (ASUK), a proscribed (banned) entity that opposes the integration of Manipur into the Indian Union, has also called for a total shutdown across Kangleipak/Manipur for ten hours, from 6:00 AM to 4:00 PM on January 26, boycotting the Republic Day celebrations.
Electricity, water supply, medical services, fire services, religious/ritual functions, and emergency services will not be affected by the total shutdown, said a statement issued by the ASUK Publicity Committee.
The erstwhile princely state of Manipur merged with the Indian Union in 1949, after gaining independence from British rule in 1947.
The statement notes that India became a republic with the adoption of its Constitution on January 26, 1950, but the Manipur Constitution Act came into force three years earlier, on July 26, 1947.
A representative government was formed in 1948 after elections were held through adult franchise, and the first sitting of the Manipur Legislative Assembly was held on October 18, 1948.
ASUK claimed that Manipur was the first independent country in the entire Southeast Asia to be governed by a democratically elected government.
However, Manipur was forcibly annexed by India on October 15, 1949, and the erstwhile independent nation was reduced to the status of a Part-C State of India, the statement alleged. Manipur was granted statehood in 1972.
The statement alleged that the people of Manipur are now surrounded by a buffer zone or ‘red line’ that cannot be crossed, a situation it attributes to Manipur’s merger into India.
It further claimed that the Indian Constitution has failed to protect the lives and properties of the Manipuri people. For these reasons, ASUK asserted, the people of Manipur should not participate in the Indian Republic Day celebrations.
Notably, seven underground outfits in Manipur, including the Coordination Committee (CorCom), an apex body of six banned groups, and the outlawed Socialist Revolutionary Party (SOREPA), Kangleipak, have called for an 18-hour total shutdown from 12:00 PM on January 25 to 6:00 PM on January 26, also boycotting India’s Republic Day.