In recent times, invoking the Nupilal and June 18 movement seems to have become a habit among some CSO leaders in a bid to impress upon the state government the gravity of their movement. This is rather unfortunate. Both these movements are unparalleled in the history of Manipur and a sanctity of its own which should not be trifled with.
Every December 12, we celebrate the valour and tenacity of Manipuri women in two Nupilals who rose against the colonial policies of the British imperialists in 1904 and 1939. Our womenfolk braved the bayonets of soldiers under British command. In 1904, market women were protesting against forced labour of the male population by the British and it was for the first time that the Britishers faced the wrath of Manipuri women and they were totally taken unawares.
The first Nupilal lasted for a week. Although the British authorities suppressed the uprising, they were compelled to rescind the order. Again in 1939, women rose up against indiscriminate rice exports by Marwari businessmen in collusion with British authorities resulting in artificial famine in a state where there is surplus in rice production and the protests lasted for several months. These two events have a special place in the anti-colonial history of Manipur and it became a model and basis for future women movements particularly in the Meira Paibi movement which placed Manipuri women at the forefront of the human rights movement in the state.
Likewise, the June 18 uprising of 2001 will remain etched in history as a movement unparalleled which stretched for months in direct opposition to the might of the Government of India. GOI interlocutor Padmanabhiah signed a ceasefire ‘without territorial limits’ with the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (IM) in Bangkok on June 14, 2001 which sparked a movement and exploded on June 18 in which 18 martyrs laid down their lives for the cause of maintaining Manipur’s territorial integrity. Manipur took exception to the term ‘without territorial limits’ as it was linked with Muivah’s dream of a Greater Nagaland which seeks to bring in contiguous areas inhabited by Nagas in the neighbouring states of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh under a single administrative unit called Nagalim along with the state of Nagaland.
It was not only Manipur, but both Assam and Arunachal Pradesh also protested against the agreement. For months altogether, the streets of Imphal and peripheral areas were a war zone where even the security forces dare not venture in the night as the citizens had declared public curfew.
Ultimately, the BJP-led government had to relent and scrap the three controversial words ‘without territorial limits’ from the ceasefire agreement and limited it to the state of Nagaland. Every year, we celebrate the 18 brave hearts who laid down their lives for the cause of territorial integrity. As we said before, the sanctity of both these events should not be belittled in present times. CSOs and women groups have every right to pursue their agenda in public interest. But please, refrain from invoking the two historic events.
