Almost all the addresses of Manipur government offices in Churachandpur district have been found renamed as ‘Lamka’ including Churachandpur Police Station which has been changed as ‘Lamka Police Station’ on Google Maps despite the prohibition imposed against such activities.
This comes in violation of the Manipur government order, which imposed a prohibition against any deliberate act of renaming districts, subdivisions, places, institutions and addresses without the approval of the state government.
As per the state government website for Churachandpur, the name of the district derived its name after Maharaja Churachand Singh. It said that the district which was previously known as Manipur South District came into existence in the year 1969 along with the district reorganisation of Manipur. Manipur was till then a single district Union Territory having only 10 Sub-Divisions, as per the website.
The name of Churachandpur district was changed from Manipur South District under vide Revenue Department’s order no. 43/2/81-R(Pt) dated July 15, 1983, it mentioned.
The population of the district is dominated by Kuki-Zo communities and the population has been reportedly increasing drastically as compared with other districts of Manipur.
The people of the district have been promoting the name ‘Lamka’ instead of Churachandpur. The promotion increased drastically after May 3, 2023.
There were reports of Bir Tikendrajit International airport being printed as Lamka Airport in Air India flight tickets in June last year. In response, MLA RK Imo requested Civil Aviation minister Jyotiaditya Scindia to investigate the matter and take appropriate action against Air India officials. Air India clarified that it was an error while printing.
No investigation report has been produced till date for the issue.
During the height of the conflict last year, the protesters in Churachandpur also renamed the newly established Churachandpur Medical College as ‘Lamka Medical College’ by erasing ‘Churachandpur’.
In another incident, residents of Churachandpur district also raised complaints upon India Post on social media for not delivering parcels at the so called ‘Lamka district’.
India Post responded to the complaint with a post on X: “We are sorry to inform you that your delivery has been delayed due to the prevailing situation in Manipur. The destination pin code for Lamka does not exist or not available. Inconvenience caused is sincerely regretted.”
Surprisingly, the address of Churachandpur Police station has been found changed as Lamka Police Station on google map while all the addresses of District Transport office, Electricity office, mini secretariat, SDO office, district veterinary office were found changed into ‘Lamka’ instead of Churachandpur.
Although the Biren led government had issued a prohibition order, there are no reports of action being taken up against the said violations, such as renaming of ‘Churachandpur Police Station’ as ‘Lamka Police Station’ on Google Maps. It may be mentioned that chief minister N Biren Singh is also taking incharge of Home.
The government order mentioned that any one found violating the orders shall be prosecuted under relevant law of the land.
Interestingly, the address of banks and other financial institutions in the district remained as ‘Churachandpur’.
