Manipur: Underground SOREPA boycotts R-Day, calls 13-hours total shutdown

Imphal: The proscribed Socialist Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (SOREPA) has announced its boycott of India’s Republic Day celebrations on January 26 and called for a 13-hour total shutdown across the region, including Manipur, from 4 am to 5 pm on that day.

MC Yaiphabi, secretary of publicity and organization of SOREPA, stated that the group supports general strikes, total shutdowns, boycotts, and other actions organized by any group in the Western South East Asia (WESEA) and Kashmir regions against the Indian Union.

The outfit is protesting against the central government, claiming that Manipur was forcibly annexed on October 15, 1949, and that the once-independent nation of Manipur was reduced to the status of a Part-C State of India.

India became a republic with the adoption of its Constitution on January 26, 1950, but the Manipur Constitution Act took effect on July 26, 1947.

The group clarified that the general strike would not affect emergency services, including fire services, water supplies, electricity, medical services, religious ceremonies, and media operations.

SOREPA also paid tribute to those who sacrificed their lives fighting for the unity of the land and wished a speedy recovery to those injured while protecting it.