The 19th Great June Uprising day will be observed by the observance committee and martyrs’ families Kekrupat, Imphal on June 18 in view of the present situation of COVID-19 pandemic in the State.
Though the uprising day was jointly observed by people from hills and valleys at Kekrupat for the past many years, the observance committee appealed to all the local clubs and organisations to observe the same in their respective localities by following the Standard Operating Procedures issued by the state government.
Speaking to the media at the office of All Manipur United Clubs Organisation on Wednesday, chairman of the 19th Great June Uprising Observance Committee, Sunil Karam said that the observation for the current year will be just a symbolic observation owing to the present situation of the state. However, the observation at Kekrupat will be made available to the public through electronic media.
Sunil appealed to all sections of the state to leave aside their differences and stand together to protect the state from any external forces. No external forces should overpower the people of the state so that there can be a common future of the State, Sunil said.
Any misunderstanding amongst different communities should be settled internally without taking the help of any outside forces, Sunil said and appealed to the people to be aware of their own responsibilities and follow the SOPs so that COVID-19 does not further spread in the State.
Vice chairman of the observance committee Nando Luwang said that the blood donation program which has been a part of the observation at Kekrupat for the past many years will not be included for the current year.
However, the blood donation will be organised at Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) and Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) on the same day or even before and after June 18, Nando said. He informed that any individual who wishes to donate blood can contact the observance committee.
The observance committee also expressed its appreciation to the individuals and groups who cleaned up Kekrupat.
It may be recalled that the Bangkok Declaration on June 14, 2001 between the Centre and NSCN (I-M), was the main factor that led to the June 18 uprising in 2001 where security forces killed 18 protestors in Imphal.
In the unprecedented uprising, the State legislative assembly was torched by protestors, BJP Manipur Pradesh was attacked, the Manipur state legislative assembly Speaker was paraded with a garland of slippers and even the Manipur Chief Minister’s bungalow was attacked by a mob.
Following the protest, the government of India had to delete the three words – “without territorial limits” from the agreement on July 27. However, every year since 2001, June 18 is being observed as the Great June Uprising at Kekrupat where people from different communities of Manipur pay tributes and honour the sacrifice of the 18 martyrs.
