Insurgent group in Manipur announces boycott of I-Day celebration, calls for general strike

The Coordination Committee (CorCom), a revolutionary group in Manipur, has declared a boycott of India's Independence Day celebration in the state. The committee asserts that Manipur is not a part of India's independence narrative and calls for a general strike on the 15th of August, 2023.

The committee's announcement challenges the mainstream Indian perspective of Independence Day, asserting that Manipur's historical and sovereign identity has been marginalized within the framework of India's colonial rule. The ongoing engineered ethnic crisis, according to CorCom, reflects India's divisive policies that have fueled the unrest in Manipur.

CorCom's statement emphasizes Manipur's historical significance as an international legal personality, predating British colonial rule by over two millennia. The committee highlights that Manipur existed as an Asiatic Sovereign Power for centuries, with a written constitution and international treaties.

The controversy lies in India's annexation of Manipur in 1949, which CorCom argues wiped out Manipur's sovereign historicity. The illegal 'Manipur Merger Agreement, 1949,' led to the imposition of India's Independence Day celebration on Manipur. CorCom challenges this narrative, asserting that it's time for the ethnic groups in Manipur to unite as "Manipur People" and seek their inalienable right to self-determination.

The present ethnic crisis in Manipur, CorCom claims, is a result of India's divisive policies and its use of hate-based tactics as part of counter-insurgency operations. The group calls for the Manipur people to recognize these strategies and understand the impossibility of restoring Manipur's lost sovereignty within the framework of India's colonial constitution.

As in previous years, the CorCom boycotts the ensuing 15 August India's Independence Day Celebration in Manipur. There shall be a General Strike from 1:00 am till 6:30 pm of the said day with exemption of essential services like medical, electricity, water supply, fire service, media and religious observances.