Ukhrul, Jan 25: Denouncing the boycott call by many separatist militant outfits of northeast India, the Patriotic Peoples’ Front Assam (PPFA) urges every Indian settling in the region to observe the 76th Republic Day and unfurl the Tricolour showing respect to all the known and unknown martyrs of Freedom Movement against the British colonial forces. The forum of nationalist citizens also observed that the armed militant groups, who once unanimously dictated the residents to boycott the R-Day and Independence Day, now split to different factions while asking the people separately to avoid the celebration as a rhetoric approach.
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Mentionable is that six banned outfits of Manipur under the banner of ‘Coordination Committee’ called for a total shutdown on 26 January 2025 starting from midnight to 6 pm to boycott any celebration related to R-Day. The outlawed organizations namely Kangleipak Communist Party, Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup, People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak, PREPAK-Pro, Revolutionary People’s Front, and United National Liberation Front (UNLF) even criticized the Union government in New Delhi to make Manipur ‘a militarized state’ and nurturing ‘proxy insurgency’ to divide & suppress the voice of indigenous people.
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In a separate statement, the banned Socialist Revolutionary Party Kangleipak also imposed a shutdown on Sunday from 4 am to 5 pm and asked the people to boycott the R-Day celebrations in Manipur.
On the other hand, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland/Government of the People’s Republic of Nagaland and the United Liberation Front of Assam (Independent) called for boycotting R-Day functions in Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh where they imposed a general strike from 1 am to 6 pm on Sunday.
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Opposing the ‘colonial Indian Republic Day’, the outfits asked all political & non-political, community organisations and freedom-aspiring people to refrain from attending any celebrations during the period. However, essential services like healthcare, electricity, fire-brigade, water supplies, media, etc have been exempted from the shutdown.
“We must not forget that a number of bravehearts including Kanaklata Barua, Mukunda Kakoti, Kushal Konwar, Tilak Deka, Bhogeswari Phukanani, Nidhanu Rajbangshi, Kamala Miri, Lerela Boro, Madan Barman, Rauta Kachari, Hemoram Patar, Gunavi Bordoloi, Thagi Sut, Balaram Sut, etc laid down their lives for the honour of Tricolour, which symbolizes the spirit of independence,” said a PPFA statement, adding that the national flag does not belong to the government alone (but the citizens of Bharat) and hence it should be a moral responsibility for each and every Bharatiya to pay tribute to the martyrs honouring the Tricolour on R-Day and I-Day.
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(Nava Thakuria is a senior Indian journalist who contributes to various media outlets including print and digital platforms of India and across the world.)
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