Manipur should take part in Commonwealth Games as separate entity: CIRCA

Our Bureau

IMPHAL | Oct 18

The Coalition for Indigenes’ Rights Campaign in its ‘Manipur National Day’ observation today has demanded that Manipur should be accorded separate membership of the British Commonwealth as it was under the suzerainty of the latter and allow participating in the 2018 Commonwealth Games as a separate entity. 

To commemorate the first session of the then Manipur Legislative Assembly which took place on October 18, 1948, CIRCA organised a public discussion forum on the theme, ‘Rights of the Indigenous People on Education, Natural & Environment, Cultural, Sports and Pre-Merger Status’, with Prof W. Nabakumar in the chair at state guest house Sanjengthong here today.

The public discussion took five resolutions, which includes the demand that India should recognise the distinct history and political status of Manipur as a step towards finding a peaceful political solution to the protracted armed conflict prevalent in Manipur. It also includes restoration of the pre-Merger status to Manipur under the framework of the Instrument of Accession and any such political solution should be on the basis of it.

The exploration of natural resources of Manipur should be stopped until the restoration of pre-Merger political status or until a satisfactory resolution on the prevailing armed conflict in Manipur is achieved, the discussion resolved, adding a free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous people of Manipur as mandated by the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007 should be taken before initiating any development programme.

Further it also resolved that the United Kingdom has the moral responsibility to intervene in finding a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Manipur since it was partly responsible for the controversies and confusions surrounding the political status of Manipur in the post-empire period.

History of pre-Merger Manipur should be included in the educational syllabus and curriculum from the grass-root level up to university level so as to promote communal harmony among different indigenous communities settled in Manipur and a people’s council be instituted representing all the indigenous ethnic communities of Manipur as the ‘Upper House’ of the State Legislature to ensure peaceful co-existence, also resolved the CIRCA discussion.

1. Sanatomba of MU, O. Kulabidhu, former assistant registrar, MU, advocate S. Sarat, Somorendro Thokchom and Ningthouja Lancha spoke as resource persons during the discussion.

Members of various civil bodies and scholars also took part in the discussion.