For Manipur state it was the historic day: on 13 March 2020, the Titular King of Manipur not only filed his nomination as the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for the Rajya Sabha election, he surprised many since none ever joined politics from the royal family. Of course, the corona pandemic delayed his entry in the Upper House of the Indian Parliament but none can stop him winning as the Manipur Legislative Assembly has a clear majority of the ruling BJP alliance with Nongthombam Biren Singh, the Chief Minister, at the helm of the affairs. The royal family was never inclined to join Indian politics as right from the independence days the Maharaja Bodhchandra and his eldest son Okendrajit, who was recognized the Maharaja after him, had distanced themselves from being part of the Indian politics. The grandson creates history by joining the mainstream politics. The decision to nominate the Titular King Leishemba Sanajaoba The Titular King who is the symbol of love, peace and unity for the hill and valley people, as a candidate for the Rajya Sabha MP under BJP Government was most probably initiated by the Hon'ble Prime Minister, Narendnra Modi in consultation with N. Biren Singh. Immediately, many Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) raised strong objections to the candidature of the Titular King Leishemba Sanajaoba for the post of Rajya Sabha MP.
The erstwhile princely state Manipur signed the Instrument of Accession but not the Merger Agreement until 1949, that too under duress, states Pradip Phanjoubam, the Editor of Imphal based Daily Imphal Free Press. He prefers to quote Fali S. Nariman’s 2013 book, The State of the Nation to give some clues: “He writes that modern India was launched on a very uncertain wicket, an idea that he has articulated in several public lectures. Its partition in 1947 was traumatic, but even after this, it was still left with the prospect of uniting 560 or so princely states, many of which were either indifferent or unwilling to join the new nation — Hyderabad, Kashmir, Travancore, Junagadh and more. Manipur was one of these. The Constitution, written at such a time, was expected to reflect this insecurity, wrote Nariman. Article 1 of the Constitution, which says “India, that is Bharat, will be a Union of States”, indicates that India is federal. However, one article later, Article 3, refutes this spirit. The latter empowers the Union to split existing states, merge them, alter their boundaries, or even change their names, with or without their consent.
Other than the anticipation of the need for reorganizing its states in the days ahead, the un-articulated but clear message to the former princely states was that if any of them misbehaved, the Union could abolish them. Nariman says that this existential angst is also reflected in other provisions of the Constitution. For example, the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 allows the Union to institute inquiries even into state subjects listed in the Seventh Schedule; or, take for instance, the institution of the governor, who is also the ear and eye of the Union in the states. Over seven decades after Independence, India is no longer the same. Nariman suggests that even if dropping these features is not feasible, they should at least be archived so that India can claim to be a truly confident federal republic.”
Manipur’s predicament is closely linked to the march of the republic. The erstwhile princely state signed the Instrument of Accession but not the Merger Agreement until 1949, that too under duress. Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh had gone to Shillong for some work in September but he was kept under house arrest in his summer residence and not released till he signed the agreement on September 21, to be put into force from October 15. Prior to this, an anti-monarchy movement had compelled the king to give way to an elected legislature to run the state as specified in a Constitution drawn up hurriedly on the eve of Independence.
This legislative body as well as the Constitution were abolished unceremoniously upon the merger with India. Nariman predicted that for reasons that probably had to do with showing the rebellious former kingdom its place, it was not given full statehood and was, instead, made a Part-C state, its administration handled by a diwan appointed by the Union. Protests were not immediate, probably because Manipur’s affinity with the idea of India was already prominent, but demands for full statehood began soon enough. When public agitation reached a critical threshold, Manipur was upgraded to a Union territory in 1956. When this did not put matters to rest, in 1963, a 30-member territorial council was introduced to give the local elite some say in the state’s administration under the guardianship of a chief commissioner. The same year, on December 1, in the wake of a powerful secessionist movement, the Naga Hills District of Assam was granted full statehood after merging it with the Mon and Tuensang subdivisions of NEFA (now Arunachal Pradesh).
Trouble in Manipur, however, did not end, and secessionist sentiments began growing. It was then that full-fledged statehood was granted to it in 1972, together with Meghalaya and Tripura. By then, the belief that no concession from the Union can be gained without violent agitations had become ingrained. Manipur is living the consequences of such thinking to this day. Only a sustained and imaginative policy can purge the region of its oppressive culture of protest.
Dr.Khomdon Lisam had run a series of articles for e-pao.net where he mentioned: “On 29 October, 2019, Yamben Biren, claiming to be the "Chief Minister of Manipur State Council" and Narengbam Samarjit, claiming to be the "Minister of External Affairs and Defence of Manipur State Council" said they were speaking on behalf of the ‘Maharaja of Manipur, Shri Leishemba Sanajaoba' to formally launch the Manipur Government-in-Exile― "the Manipur State Council". They said that the exiled government in London would push for recognition of independent Manipur by the United Nations. They declared "We will run the de jure exiled Government here ... from today onwards," They read aloud. "We will seek recognition from different nations ... to become a member of the United Nations. We hope many of the countries will recognise our independence." However, the King of Manipur, Leishemba Sanajaoba has reportedly distanced himself from their statement. The hot news was published in all newspaper in Manipur. One militant organisation called Prepak expressed support to the government in exile in London. Apart from Prepak, no other militant group expressed moral support to the launching of the Manipur Government in Exile in London.” Earlier PM Narendra Modi not only shared dias with the Titular King but addressed him as Maharaja. Credit must be given to continuous follow-up by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the PMO that the Titular Maharaja not only distanced himself from so called Manipur Government-in-Exile but preferred to join the mainstream politics in India. This may not only help resolving the Manipur disputes but also extend helping hand subsiding the influence of the separatist organizations.
Next column: Scindias of Gwalior: From 1857 till date
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Manipur Titular King Maharaja Leishemba Sanajaoba filing his nomination for Rajya Sabha election as the BJP candidate. (Photo courtesy: Indian Express)
