Manipur groups call shutdown against State's 1949 merger with India

Seven banned armed groups, largely comprising the Meitei people, have called for a 12-hour shutdown on October 15, observed as "National Black Day," alleging the merger violated international and domestic legal provisions

Seven banned armed groups in Manipur have called for a 12-hour shutdown on October 15 to observe "National Black Day" in protest against the State's merger with the Indian Union in 1949.

These groups, largely comprising the Meitei people of Imphal Valley, said essential services, including medical emergencies, media operations and religious activities, will be exempted from the shutdown.

Six of these groups are constituents of the umbrella Coordination Committee. They are the Kangleipak Communist Party, Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup, People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), PREPAK-Pro, Revolutionary People's Front and United National Liberation Front.

The seventh group, Socialist Revolutionary Party, called for a shutdown against the 1949 merger in a separate statement.

Referring to Manipur by its former name, Kangleipak, the groups alleged that the merger almost eight decades ago violated international and domestic legal provisions. They cited Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the Manipur State Constitution Act, 1947, and the Indian Independence Act, 1947.

The outfits also claimed that King Bodhchandra was pressured into signing the Manipur Merger Agreement in Shillong on September 21, 1949, allegedly under house arrest and at gunpoint.

They criticised India's post-independence policies, alleging that the country adopted an imperialist approach by bringing smaller nations under its control and fuelling communal tensions. They contrasted this with global decolonisation movements and called on the public to continue resisting New Delhi's "colonial occupation".