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IMPHAL, Oct 13: The National Revolutionary Front Manipur (NRFM) has appealed to all sections of people to observe National Black Day on October 15, the day Manipur was annexed into the Indian Union and Manipur lost its independence.
A press release issued by the outfit’s Information and Publicity Secretary Sanajaoba Meitei said that the people have not stopped lamenting the forced annexation of Manipur into the Indian Union on October 15, 1949.
It recalled that a National convention on the Manipur Merger issue was held on October 28-29, 1993 at GM Hall and the convention resolved that the Manipur Merger Agreement signed on September 21, 1949 was invalid.
It said that the way the king of Manipur was put under house arrest at Shillong and forced to sign the Manipur Merger Agreement under duress violated international law and as such, the agreement was totally invalid from the perspective of international law.
Article 2(4) of the UN Charter says, “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations”, the outfit quoted.
Article 2(4) of the UN Charter was already in force when India forcibly annexed Manipur. The same UN article was violated most blatantly when India annexed Manipur and the Manipur National Assembly formed on October 18, 1948 was abolished.
The National liberation movement being waged in Manipur for the past many decades is primarily aimed at winning back the lost sovereignty of Manipur, it said.
As India has been occupying Manipur even though it did not make any formal declaration of war, the ongoing Manipur-India conflict is an international armed conflict.
Just like the ‘forced annexation’ of Manipur, the proxy war being waged allegedly by India with the help of Kuki mercenaries and SoO groups to finish the National liberation movement of Manipur too violates international law, it said.
By holding periodic elections in Manipur, the Government of India has been deceiving the international community and portraying Manipur as a part of India, it continued.
It also called upon civil society organisations and students to study the Manipur-India conflict in detail to give a new impetus to the National liberation movement.