[They declared: “The Manipur State Council is His Highness’s Government, the Maharaja of Manipur Leishemba Sanajaoba who is the Maharaja/King of Manipur. His Highness is the constitutional head of the State. Manipur is a constitutional Monarchy ruled State and the sovereign of the King of Manipur is Divine of God.”]
By Murtaza
Ali Shah
LONDON: The representatives of State of
Manipur’s King Leishemba Sanajaoba have announced separation from India,
forming the Manipur State Council.
At a press conference here, Chief Minister of
Manipur State Council Yamben Biren and Minister of External Affairs and Defence
of Manipur State Council Narengbam Samarjit announced before media that they
were speaking on behalf of the Maharaja of Manipur High Highness the Leishemba
Sanajaoba to formally launch the exiled government – the Manipur State Council.
The exiled government will be based in
Central London.
They produced a document showing that His
Highness the Maharaja of Manipur had authorised them by the Order No. 12 of
2013 dated the March 15, 2013 to solve the political problems of the State of
Manipur.
Both of them confirmed that they have already
sought asylum in the United Kingdom in September 2019, fleeing persecution and
repression by the Indian state as declaring independence in India would have
led them to being arrested and killed arbitrarily by the Indian security
forces.
They said: “We believe that now is the right
time to make public the Independent Government of Manipur before the
international community to announce our independent status and to seek
recognition. We call on all the Governments of the sovereign states of the
members of the United Nations for their recognition of the de jure and exile
Government of the Manipur from today onwards.
The three million Manipuri people want
recognition as one of the precious native nations. Our attempts to engage with
the Indian govt were met with hate and hostilities.”
It was not possible for us to declare the
independence of Manipur while in India because we, the Councilors of the
Manipur State Council, would have faced arrest, torture and extra-judicial
killings at the hands of the Indian government.”
They said that Narendra Modi’s government is
intolerant and believes in physical annihilation of small nations and
communities for the sake of Hindutva supremacy and therefore it was not safe
for them to continue operating from India.
They declared: “The Manipur State Council is
His Highness’s Government, the Maharaja of Manipur Leishemba Sanajaoba who is
the Maharaja/King of Manipur. His Highness is the constitutional head of the
State. Manipur is a constitutional Monarchy ruled State and the sovereign of
the King of Manipur is Divine of God.”
They said that Manipur is being ruled through
draconian laws by the Indian occupation government “under the Republic
Constitution of India including Arms Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958”.
They said that thousands of people have been
killed since the occupation of Manipur. Nearly 4500 have been killed unlawfully
in the last 10 years and more than 1500 are in prisons in illegal custody. The
total loss of life stands at around 15,000 in the last few decades, they said
referring to a BBC report which had unearthed the scale of unlawful killings
and human rights violations.
They said: “There are more than 1,528 cases
of the extra-judicial killing which are pending in the Supreme Court of India.
They victim were killed without trial of law. Indian army forces kill the
people of Manipur with impunity. The Manipuri human right activist Irom Charu
Sharmila, known as the ‘Iron Lady of Manipur’, started protest fasting for 16
years against the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and human
rights abuses. The brave women of Manipur staged nude protests in front of the
Indian Army centres to condemn inhuman torture and killing of innocent people
of Manipur.”
The state of Manipur is a de jure government
formed in Manipur under the Manipur State Constitution Act 1947. It received
independence from the British Raj on 14th August 1947.
They said that the sovereign State of Manipur
was excluded from India [Indian Empire] by the Order in Council by His Majesty
on 27 December 1946 and the Indian Government annexed Manipur State of India by
violation of the Act 1949.
They said they believed in obtaining our
objectives through peaceful and democratic means. There are many armed groups
fighting the Indian forces for the restoration of independence of Manipur from
India, they said, giving a long list of their demands including the rights of
tribal people, removal of Indian forces from their land and restoration of sovereignty.
