SILCHAR, Jan 18 – A historic peace march of Manipuri diaspora under the banner of Manipur Levy 2008 from Silchar to Imphal began on December 29 and ended at Imphal on January 9.
The term Manipuri diaspora means those Manipuri’s who are living outside the state and Manipuri Levy is the term used by the British for the Manipuri Army comprising 586 soldiers who made an expedition all the way from Sylhet in 1824 and liberated Manipur from the British. Churamoni Singh, chairman of the organising committee discussed the objectives of the march at Silchar Press Club recently.
More than 500 people from this community took part in the peace march which started at India Club and ended at Kangla Fort in Imphal. The main objective of this march was to spread the message of goodwill and harmony all over the country which are being affected by militants. Among them Manipur state is hugely affected. The normal life of Manipur has been totally disturbed.
Churamoni Singh said that in Manipur it is very agonising to see mothers becoming widow, the children becoming orphan day by day due to the terrorist activities prevailing in the state. It is the time to move forward and try to eliminate militancy and terrorist activities from the country.
The peace march was both significant and symbolic since it related to the elimination of terrorism and call for peace and harmony in the State and the country as whole.The people who joined the march were from Karbi Anglong , N C Hills, Golaghat, Hojai and various corners of Barak Valley.