'Manipur was not part of Assam'

NEW DELHI, JULY 17. Mr. Th. Prem Kumar Singh, Joint Director, (PR & Tourism), Government of Manipur, writes:

I would like to invite your attention to the article, `The Seven Sisters' under the sub-title `Our India' by Amrita Bharati, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, which appeared on the Fun Track page of The Young World (JULY 14). The historical status of the State of Manipur has unfortunately been presented wrongly in the article.

In the introductory synopsis, the writer says ``Before India became independent, the entire north-eastern region was known as Assam. Afterwards, six states were carved out from Assam - Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Together with Assam, they came to be known as the seven sisters.'' The claim of the author is totally wrong and imaginary, with no truth in the story.

While expressing our thanks and gratitude to you and the writer for highlighting the cultural heritage of this culturally rich State, it is clarified that Manipur was neither part of Assam nor was it carved out of Assam. Manipur, the then princely state, was an independent kingdom since time immemorial and came under British rule on April 27, 1891 after a fierce battle. By then, the whole of Assam was already under the British Government in India. When the British left India on August 15, 1947 the pre- 1891 position and power of the king of Manipur was restored status-quo.

However, Manipur was later merged with the Dominion of India under the Instrument of Accession Act with effect from October 15, 1949 for which an Agreement was executed between the Maharaja of Manipur and the Governor-General of India on September 21, 1949. The historic merger agreement was signed by V.P. Menon, Advisor to the Government of India (Ministry of States), on behalf of the Governor-General and S. Prakash, Governor of Assam, as its witness.

It is a historical fact that Manipur was never part of Assam and hence, the theory that Manipur was carved out from Assam like other States in the north-eastern region is totally wrong, fabricated, imaginary and misleading. It seems that the author has complete lack of knowledge about the Indian States in general and Manipur in particular or has written it intentionally with a motive to create confusion. But, the issue is very sensitive and has naturally drawn criticism particularly from the people of Manipur.

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