Matamgi Manipur

By: Lt. Col. H. Bhuban Singh (Text courtesy: Imphal Free Press 7 June 2015) The following is an article by Lt. Col. H. Bhuban, author of the book “Merger of Manipur”. We are reproducing this article published in the IFP 15 years ago as a homage to the respected ex-Army officer, who was also minister under the Wahengbam Nipamacha Singh MSCP ministry, a state party which is now defunct. The maverick who is also known for his scholarly researches into the history of Manipur of the colonial period,breathed his last recently. There has been a strong notion of recent origin in Manipur that the State became independent from midnight of 15 August 1947, when the suzerainty of His Majesty (of the United Kingdom) over Indian states lapsed and further that this independent status was lost from the noon of 15 October 1949, when Manipur got merged into the erstwhile Dominion of India. There is no denying that Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh was coerced into signing the Merger Agreement after long and ...

by Pradip Phanjoubam (This article was first published in the Economic and Political Weekly and republished on the Imphal Free Press on 14 June.) Delhi's chest thumping journalists have become mere stenographers of power, forgetting to ask questions and interrogate official narratives. A journalist from Manipur recounts the events leading up to and around the 9 June 2015 “surgical strikes” by the Indian Army against insurgents and explains the event in its contexts. There is something very strange about the ongoing operations against the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, (Khaplang), NSCN-K, and other Northeast militants in the wake of the June 4 devastating ambush on a convoy of the 6-Dogra Regiment which left 18 soldiers dead and 14 more injured. All news of these operations, including the surgical commando strikes deep into Myanmar territory on June 9, emanate from New Delhi and are loudly relayed through the many 24-hour TV channels and columns by Northeast experts based...

Dr L Krishnamangol wrote this article for The Sangai Express and Epao reposted it on 1 June 2015 There are many historical turning points in the evolution of the society and state of Manipur since ancient times. We can, therefore, imagine that there was “primitive communism” or primitive communal system in ancient times. And, the primitive communism is the earliest mode of production which is based on the common ownership of the means of production or the resources. This system still continues in some parts of the hill areas of Manipur. And, the system corroborates the empirical experiences/evidences that were found in different parts of the world in ancient times or early period of human civilizations. Coming to the case of Manipur, it is well known that the historical development of the state revealed that Manipur was defeated/conquered by the British in 1891, and that, thereafter, it became a princely state prior to 15th August, 1947.