CIRCA demands titular King to step down from throne

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Mar 18: Shocked by the drastic decision of titular king Leishemba Sanajaoba to contest the Rajya Sabha MP election, the Coalition for Indigenous Rights Campaign (CIRCA), Manipur, has demanded the king to abdicate his throne if he wants to go down his chosen path.
Speaking to media persons at AIMS office at Kwakeithel today, CIRCA Manipur president Somorendro Thokchom explained that CIRCA Manipur was set up in 2015 by like minded organisations who wanted Manipur to return to its pre-Merger political status.
CIRCA Manipur sat down with Leishemba Sanajaoba and reached a mutual understanding regarding this objective. A such, CIRCA Manipur has been collaborating with the king in various initiatives and functions. However, his decision to contest the Rajya Sabha MP election has not only created cracks in this relationship with CIRCA, Manipur, but has also hurt the sentiments of the association, he lamented.
Somorendro said that many CSOs of the State have been appealing the king to revoke his decision and added that till now, CIRCA, Manipur, which has a close relation with Sana Konung, has been keeping mum due to the belief that the king would not go against the wishes and desires of his people.
However, as it seems Leishemba Sanajaoba will not change his mind, CIRCA decided to step in and make a last request to the king to change his stance in the interest of his people, Somorendro added.
No one can stop Sanajaoba from contesting for the post of MP. It is his right.
However, if he wants to become an MP, he must abdicate his throne, the CIRCA president demanded.
On the other hand, Somorendro vehemently denied all the claims made by certain people and associations that Leishemba Sanajaoba took his decision due to his economic condition and reasoned that the very logic that contesting for the MP seat will solve his problems, is flawed.
When Manipur became a part of India in 1949, it lost its political sovereignty. However, the presence of a king signified that its cultural sovereignty was still intact. The king was also a symbol to the world that Manipur was once a proud and independent kingdom.
However, Leishemba Sanajaoba's decision to become an MP under the banner of the BJP is a sign that Manipur is now going to lose its cultural sovereignty as well. CIRCA, Manipur cannot help but believe that this is an attempt by the India Government to get rid of Manipur's cultural sovereignty for total dominance, Somorendro claimed.
He then said that in the eyes of CIRCA, the king and Leishemba Sanajaoba are two separate entities and explained that the association worships a king in the highest regard as a king is a cultural, ritual and traditional institution which has survived through thousands of years while Sanajaoba is just one individual.
Being a king means one has the people backing him as his subjects. But being an MP means he will become just another individual who will act per the whims and fancies of BJP.
As such, if Leishemba Sanajaoba wants to become an MP and also wishes to safeguard the cultural sovereignty and sentiments of the State and its people respectively, then he must step down from the throne, Somorendro reiterated.