UNLFW diktat muffles I-Day celebration

The United National Liberation Front of WESEA [UNLFW], the Co-ordination Committee [CorCom], Manipur, the Garo National Liberation Army [GNLA] and the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council [HNLC] has called for the boycott of India’s 70th Independence Day with a total shut down.

In a joint statement the groups condemned what they term as ‘continuous racist attacks’ on citizens of Western South Asia [WESA] inhabiting mainland India, the latest being the humiliating incidence of Monika Khangembam of Manipur that proves the vulnerability of the people of the region in spite of carrying genuine citizenship and passport.

The groups are of the view that the three Indian Armed Forces are adequately equipped with AFSPA to crush dissent within Indian democracy run mostly by corrupt thugs indulged in crimes. That India’s expansionist hegemonic designs have captured the region with deceit and might, the groups feel. With such a historical reality the fraternal revolutionary parties are totally committed to freeing the region from the colonial clutch of India. “Our multi-faceted resistance movements against India’s tyrannical occupation are un-daunting and unwavering,” echoed the statement.

The groups are determined to free the whole region, uprooting Indian rule for good.

“The world’s largest collection of pristine indigenous tribes of unique and myriad cultures are slowly being lost to the subtle changes bringing in self-destruction, following a mirage of progress of the elusive Indian utopia,” they assert.

However, the groups opine that this will be possible only if the citizens assert together for the value of freedom, pride for their own identity based on their roots and traditions. A brief look at the present stark reality around with a careful observation should make one shiver at what is taking place in the whole WESEA region.

As a part of their visible resistance, they called upon the “oppressed people” to rise up against the Indian hegemony and boycott India’s Independence Day by staying home ​ so that the whole world comes to know that from the east of Bangladesh to the west of Myanmar, the people of WESEA cannot be subjugated and suppressed anymore.

“All public and private transportation should come to a grinding halt, all shops and markets to draw their shutters down, educational institutions to remain close on August 15, 2016 from 1 AM till 6 PM,” the statement emphasized. However, essential and humanitarian services are exempt from the total shutdown during the stipulated hours.

“Our targets are the Indian occupational forces, not civilians,” concluded the statement taking on the security agencies​ ​days before the preparations for the 70th Independence Day.