What Is The Possible Future Political status Of Manipur
- Part 2 -

Dr. Khomdon Lisam *

5. Declaration of Sovereignty and Independence of Manipur

On the night of 14th August , 1947 at 12 P.M. , Mr. Gerald Pakenham Stewart informed Maharaja Bodhachandra that the paramountcy of British rule in India had come to an end and India became independent from that particular moment. He handed over the reigns of Manipur to the Maharaja.

On 28th August, 1947 AD,( Thursday) at 12 midnight , the sovereignty of Manipur was declared by the Political Agent Mr. Gerald Pakenham Stewart, ICS and he handed over Manipur to Maharaja Budhchandra Singh at a special function at the Manipur State Durbar in presence of all senior Officers and a large number of people . Maharaja entered Kangla at Imphal and hoisted the National Flag of Manipur called the Pakhangba Flag. Top-guns were fired 18 times by Ahongsangbam Bidhu, Top Major in honour of the Sovereign Kingdom in the presence of a large crowd.

6. Manipur was a democratic country before India become one.

Soon after regaining independence of Manipur from British rule on 15 August, 1947, Maharaja Bodhchandra took steps to introduce democracy in Manipur. As provided in the Manipur Constitution Act, 1947, elections of 53 representatives of the people to the Manipur State Assembly were held on 11 and 18 June, 1948 in the valley areas and on 26 and 27th July, elections were held in the hill areas. The first ever elected Manipur State Assembly was inaugurated by the Maharaja on 18 October , 1948. The Maharaja addressed the first session of the first Manipur State Assembly on 18 October, 1948

The new ministry was headed by M.K. Priyobarta Singh , younger brother of Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh.

7. Series of blunders committed by the Government of India against Manipur

History has shown clearly that the Government of India had done a series of blunders which are the beyond the scope of International law to Manipur during 1947-1950 which led to illegal annexation of Manipur to India These blunders will always remain as a jeremiad and the genesis of all conflicts with the Government of India and the people of Manipur and will aggravate it’s intensity unless the Government comes out with some concrete solutions in the form of “Restoration of Pre-Merger Status of Manipur”.

In this connection , we may refer to the statement of G.K. Pillai, former Union Home Secretary, which was published on 27 September, 2011 in the Telegraph newspaper. According to him, the repeal of the draconian act AFSPA -1958 was one of the first steps towards resolving the vexed conflict of Manipur’s valley and hills.

He said that “ the ancient kingdom of Manipur had a constitution even before India wrote her own and had a proud history and was overnight turned into a C-category state in 1948. He further added “ we have to build trust by dealing with the core issues . An apology , say by the Prime Minister or the Home Minister, for the past mistakes could be a start. “

7. Signing of the Instrument of Accession on 11th August, 1947

7.1. Maharaja Bodhchandra of Manipur signed the Standstill Agreement and the Instrument of Accession on 11th August, 1947. But he had no authority to sign the Standstill Agreement and the Instrument of Accession without the approval of the Manipur State Assembly since he had already become the constitutional ruler.

7.2. Signing of the Instrument of Accession was done before the Dominion of India came into existence. On 11th August, 1947 India had not yet become independent and the Dominion of India did not come into existence. Thus the two documents of the Standstill Agreement and the Instrument of Accession signed by the Maharaja should not be taken as valid since these were signed before creation of dominion of India.

7.3. The Instrument of Accession signed by the Maharaja was probably not countersigned by Lord Mountbatten , Governor General during his tenure from 20 February 1947 to 21 June 1948) and therefore not valid according to international law.

7.4. The Instrument of Accession signed by Maharaja Bodhchandra of Manipur on 11 August was never ratified by the Manipur Constituent Assembly and therefore not valid. In case of Jammu and Kashmir , the Instrument of Accession was ratified on 15 February, 1954.

7.5. According to the Government of India Act-1935 (6-(9) , immediately the Instrument of Accession has been accepted by Governor General, copies of the Instrument and His Majesty’s acceptance thereof shall be laid before the Parliament and all courts shall take judicial notice of every such instrument and acceptance. But there are no records of the accepted copies of the Instrument of Accession of Manipur having laid down before the Parliament and all courts of India.

7.6. Manipur did not lose sovereignty even after signing the Instrument of Accession on 11th August, 1947. According to the provisions of the Instrument of Accession, the Dominion of India will be responsible only for three matters- Defence, External Affaires and Communication.

8. Maharaja of Manipur was invited at Shillong

8.1. Mr. Prakasa, Governor of Assam invited Maharaja of Manipur, Bodhchandra to Shillong in September, 1949 for talks as per wishes of the Maharaja. The Maharaja, having full trust in the relationship with India, arrived in Shillong on September 17, 1949 accompanied with his ADC, the Private Secretary and a few household staff members along with some bodyguards.

8.2. Forced attempts to get the Merger Agreement signed by Maharaja Bodhchandra

On the first day of the meeting on 18 September, 1949, the Assam Governor straight away placed before the Maharaja an already prepared ‘Merger Agreement’ whereby Manipur would be ‘merged’ with India and asked him to sign the same.

The Maharajah had given in writing to the Governor of Assam “ I am merely a Constitutional Head of a full responsible Government under the Constitution Act -1947 approved by the Government of India (British India) and the voice of the Majority is my voice and it shall be constitutionally and legally binding on me not otherwise. “Knowing the Maharaja’s firm stand, Prakasa did not pursue the matter further for the day.

To be continued....