Irabot's UG moment commemorated

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Sep 21: The day Lamyanba Irabot went underground was comme-morated today at Kwakeithel Akham Leikai community hall under the aegis of the Protection and Preservation Committee Manipur (PPCM) and the Lamyanba Irabot Ningshing Thouram Obser-vation Committee (LINTOC).
PPCM convenor Pheiroijam Nando Luwang, LINTOC convenor K Thoiba Meetei, LINTOC co-convenors L Shyam Khu- man,  Kh Gopen Luwang, Y Tiken, PPCM advisors Lou-rembam Nganbi, Soraisam Memcha, Y Leirik Leima and Maibam Purnimashi attended the function as presidium members.
The commemorative function began with offering of floral tributes to Lam-yanba Irabot’s photograph.
Speaking at the gathering, LINTOC convenor K Thoiba Meetei recalled why and for whom Lamyanba Irabot went underground.
“It is our moral duty to appreciate and keep alive the contributions and sacrifices of Lamyanba Irabot for the cause of Manipur”, Thoiba said.
He said that Hijam Irabot was aptly given the sobriquet 'Lamyanba' for his dedication to the cause of truth.
The British rulers' divide and rule policy and segregation of the valley and the hills under two administrative systems led to shrinkage of Manipur's territory, Thoiba said.
Hijam Irabot was a champion of the working class, he said.
After Manipur’s controversial merger into the Indian Union, the Government of India gifted away Manipur’s Kabaw Valley to Myanmar (Burma).
All these historical episodes must be documented well for the sake of future generations, he said.
Now illegal immigrant Kukis are posing a direct threat to the integrity of Manipur by demanding a separate administration. This      is against Lamyanba Irabot’s idea of a united Manipur, he continued.
“It’s time for every one of us to take the responsibility of building a united, harmonious and progressive Manipur”, Thoiba added.
PPCM convenor Ph Nando Luwang said that Lamyanba Irabot’s contributions to the Manipuri society are quite immense.
Just as Lamyanba Irabot went underground for the cause of Manipur, there are many underground workers  today too, he said.
Operating from outside the territory of Manipur, these underground workers have been demanding Manipur's independence, he continued.
On the other hand, the Government of India seemed determined to keep these underground people away from Manipur permanently and then crush them, Nando said.
It seems the Government of India has been following certain policies so that Manipur can never reclaim the Kabaw Valley which is two times larger than the Manipur Valley, he said.
The PPCM convenor said, “We need not be unduly upbeat about the border fencing. Although it is said that the border fencing is aimed at checking illegal immigration from Myanmar, we need to ponder over it. Border fencing would be detrimental to the interest of Manipur in the long run. After sometime, no one will believe that the Kabaw Valley once belonged to Manipur.”
“While the 10 Kuki MLAs  have been openly shouting  for creation of a separate administration, our MLAs have been maintaining stoic silence”, he remarked.
As the silence of the MLAs has been only aggravating the crisis with more and more killed as the days passed, they would be held accountable for the people’s suffering at the end, he continued.
The MLAs need to lead the people as vanguards just as their Kuki colleagues have been doing instead of waiting for the people to storm their residences, he added.