The proscribed umbrella organisation Coordination Committee (CorCom) on Friday paid homage to freedom fighters who laid down their lives at different battlefields, as a part of commemorating the battle of Khongjom that took place on April 23, 1891.
It is a matter of great pride for Manipuris to be able to honour those brave leaders before the world and follow their path of self-sacrifice, CorCom stated in a release issued by its media coordinator M Sak-hen.
However, Manipuris should never forget that “we are still victims of Indian colonialism and struggling to fight against it.” Therefore, the people should be wary of the attempts made to connect the history of Manipur with that of India by connecting irrelevant incidents in the past, CorCom stated.
“Unless the people take extreme caution against the all-out war India has taken up to completely dominate us, Manipuris are bound to face a highly uncertain future. To prevent such a situation, we must stay prepared together and join the armed revolution,” it stated.
It would be just and proper to call the celebration of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ as a grim reminder of how the people of Kangleipak (Manipur) have been enslaved and colonised by India, it stated.
On April 7, home minister Amit Shah announced the imposition of Hindi as a common language for all communities in India. This will give a huge impact, particularly to the indigenous people of ‘Western South East Asia (WESEA)’.
While UNESCO had already announced that the languages spoken in Manipur are endangered, enforcing the people of ‘WESEA’ to speak Hindi is a new tactic to subjugate the people, it further alleged.
It further mentioned that such attempts to destroy the language and script of the indigenous people is a characteristic of Hindutva. Except for Arunachal Pradesh, the remaining parts of ‘WESEA’ (Northeastern states) do not make Hindi as a compulsory subject to study in schools because the indigenous people of ‘WESEA’ have their own languages and culture, it stated.
The people of this region which have been yearning for freedom already know about both military and cultural invasion of India, it continued. The imposition of Hindi upon the people is an act of robbing the universal right the citizens have in a democratic society, Corcom alleged.
The Hindutva cultural nationalism has characteristics and elements of colonialism, it stated. The attempt to control education and language is a continuation of the forceful merger of Kangleipak (Manipur) into India in 1949, it added.
The surge of right-wing ideology across the world is a matter of grave concern for smaller communities, CorCom mentioned. Therefore, the people must be given awareness about the efforts made to build a cultural and religious hegemony by using RSS in the ‘WESEA’ region of India, it added.
