People's
Declaration
To Defend the
Territorial Integrity of Manipur
(26 June 2001)
Recalling that Manipur,
which stood as a nation state with two millennia of recorded history
with its own written Constitution and well defined and internationally
recognized political boundary, ws involuntarily merged into the then
Dominion of India following the disputed Merger Agreement on 15 October
1949.
Reminding of the various
international agreements, treaties and instruments that Manipur has been
a party as a sovereign independent country - such as the Kiyamba-
Khekhomba Agreement of 1470 between the Manipur and the Pong/Shan
Kingdoms; the Anglo-Manipuri Mutual Defence Treaty of 14 September 1762;
the Anglo-Manipuri Defence Protocol of 1763; the Treaty of Yandaboo of
24 February 1826; the Anglo-Manipuri Treaty of 1833; the Kabo Valley
Agreement of 1834, the Anglo-Manipuri (Northbroke-Chandrakriti) Protocol
of 1874; the collateral instruments such as the Stand Still Agreement
and the Instrument of Accession of 11th August 1947; followed by the
Manipur State Constitution Act, 1947 under which election, based on
universal adult franchise, was held the following year and finally the
Merger Agreement of 1949 - rendering the existing territorial boundary
of Manipur inviolable.
Recalling that the Akbar
Hydari Agreement, 1947 between the then Governor of Assam Mr. Hydari and
representatives of the Naga National Council (NNC) had no jurisdiction
over Manipur as Manipur was then an independent country.
Also recalling that the Sixteen
Points Agreement (which was never agreed upon in its entirety) between
the Government of India and NNC in 1960, and the 1964 cease-fire
agreement between them are null and void as far as it concerns Manipur
as the people of Manipur was never consulted in the process.
Deeply concerned that the
Government of India pays scant respect to its boundary in the eastern
frontiers, the first Prime Minister of India gifted away Manipur's Kabo
Valley to Burma in 1953 against the will of the people of Manipur, the
same Prime Minister announced the abandonment of the North Eastern
region to the Chinese for the defence of Calcutta in 1962 and the
government's ignorance of the continued intrusion in the eastern
frontiers while going to war with Pakistan for Kargil.
Reiterating that the
Manipur State Legislative Assembly resolved four times on 28 September
1966, 14 March 1996, 14 March 1997, 11 July 1997 and in the year 2000 to
preserve the territorial integrity of Manipur.
Reaffirming the historic
resolution passed by the people of Manipur on 4th August 1997 and 28th
September 2000 resolving to protect the unity and territorial integrity
of Manipur.
"We, the representatives of
the All Manipur Students' Union (AMSU), All Manipur United Club'
Organisation (AMUCO), Apunba Manipur Kanba Ima Lup (AMKIL),
International Peace and Social Advancement (IPSA), National Identity
Protection Committee (NIPCO), United People's Front (UPF), on behalf of
the people of Manipur declare as follows :
- The people of Manipur extends our
solidarity and support for a negotiated and honourable settlement to
the fifty year old Naga National movement founded by the late Angami
Zapu Phizo.
- The people of Manipur considers the
present cease-fire agreement between the Government of India and the
National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isaac-Muivah) [NSCN(IM)] in
the territory of Manipur allowing the opening of designated camps
and free movement of armed cadres of the latter is a step towards
the disintegration of the territorial integrity of Manipur.
- The people of Manipur considers this
extension of cease fire between the Government of India and the NSCN
(IM) in the territory of Manipur as an act to escalate the colonial
divide and rule policy aiming to infuse hitherto non-existent
communal division to the symbiotic society of Manipur.
- The people of Manipur states that any
attempt and subsequent alteration to the existing boundary by the
Government of India would necessarily initiate the process of the
disintegration of the Republic of India duly constituted in 1950.
- The people of Manipur calls upon the
Government of India to immediately and unconditionally withdraw the
imposition of this cease-fire from Manipur.
- The people of Manipur realizes the
imperative need of making the emotional and social bonds of all
indigenous people of Manipur ever stronger by respecting and
protecting each other's economic, social and cultural rights and
sharing the common destiny as one people to protect the common
political aspiration which will never be compromised.
- The people of Manipur reminds the
Government of India that nothing can disintegrate Manipur and the
North Eastern region and set people upon people and it is now time
for a new dawn for a peaceful, progressive and meaningful
coexistence.
- The people of Manipur reaffirms that
the Manipur People's uprising on 18 June 2001 stands as a living
testimony to this common aspiration of the people to preserve the
unity and territorial integrity of Manipur.
Sd/-
(MANGSATABAM INGO SINGH)
i/c President
All Manipur Students' Union (AMSU)
Sd/-
(S. SOROJINI DEVI)
President
Apunba Manipur Kanba Ima Lup (AMKIL)
Sd/-
(ITO TONGBRAM)
President
All Manipur United Clubs' Organisation (AMUCO)
Sd/-
(H. IBOTOMBI KHUMAN)
President
International Peace and Social Advancement (IPSA)
Sd/-
(PEBAM ONGBI CHAOBI DEVI)
Chairperson
National Identity Protection Committee (NIPCO)
Sd/-
(KH. RATAN)
President
United People's Front (UPF)
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