The unsung Anglo-Manipur War

Heroes deported to Kalapani

Shukhdeba Sharma Hanjabam / Aheibam
Koireng Singh

The Government and its preminent need to

forefront the solemn remembrance of
unsung Anglo-Manipur War Heroes
deported to Kalapani
Incumbent Chief Minister of Manipur, Shri N.
BirenSingh, have on 17 January 2019 made
it publicthat "six small islands of Andaman
and Nicobar lslands, locally known as
Kalapani, are likely to be named after six
freedom fighters of Manipur including two
Nagas who were exiled there after Anglo
Manipur War of 1891" as the names were
suggested following intimation from the
Government of India (Gol). It was a happy
moment for the Government of Manipur
(GoM) and also for the people of the state
that their supreme sacrifices for the
motherland is recognised and will gain more
prominence.
However, the report that 16 person were Dep

Glot

exiled to the islands after Manipur was Call

Bid

defeated in the Anglo-Manipur War was Mar

quite concerning as various sources indicate The

Aug
that there were 23 people exiled at Kalapani WH

at different batch and at different point of Zale

12th

time. It has been reported that the first 201

Onu
batch includes 15 Anglo-Manipur War Rally

Heroes (AMWHS) including Maharaja Ano

ACa

Kullachandra Dhwaja Singh followed by The

transportation of the remaining war heroes. Fnd

Meit
Whi

Stay
Besides the list from the Manipur State NSD

Archives (MSA), another deported war hero Web

Ato

named, Abungjao Yengkhoiba, was also The

reflected in the colonial proceedings of the Fina

On t

Anglo-Manipur War of 1891 as well as in the Dist

Wor

list of first batch of AMWHs deported to Mon

Kalapani, but could not be traced in the later Con

Nea

correspondence for release from Kalapani. Hos

Full

-The

So altogether, there are 23 Manipur War Tho

Why
Heroes of Manipur excluding, Jodh Singh, Can

which was documented by Andaman Whe

Unre
Administration in contrast to the number Sage

quoted in the report. In addition to the Revi

Con

AMWHS, a Manipur Prince 'Sana Chahi Co

Sejz

Ahum' alias Prince Narendrajit alias Prince |lleg

Ranjit, son of Maharaja Chourjit Singh of lleg

Sit-i

Manipur (1803-13) was also transported to Res

Kalapani in the year 1858 for leading the Stro

Uda

Sepoy Mutiny popularly known as the First Ane

War of Indian Independence at Cachar, Cog

Mis:

Barak Valley of Assam. It was mentioned in Prop

Dist

the report of Captain Stewart who himself Meit

as the Superintendent of Cachar, was Con

Ma

actively involved in containing the mutiny led Fuel

Part

by Prince Narendrajit. Tell

Des
 Awa

The event of Anglo-Manipur War of 1891 is Feat

now completing 129 years. Even then, the Con

HOI

complete details of the Manipur War Heroes Jap

deported to Kalapani still remain enigmatic. Wat

Uph

It is not that they are being forgotten, Prot

every year the state government 0s Con

observing two state level programmes for Mus

Fact

the Anglo-Manipur War which is more or less Initia

related to them. Who

Nud

Full

Stor

First is the 13th August, which is observed De

exclusively for the Heroes who were hanged. Let's

Mon

An exclusive memorial complex named Shar

"Saheed Minar" at the place, where they Gol

Tan

were hanged was built and dedicated to Why

Meit

them. Tak

Tale

Inte

Secondly, the 23rd April is observed to pay Stat

tribute to the 1891 AMWHs at the memorial Inter

Pea

complex built at Khongjom, Thoubal District, Pos

Con

Manipur. But unfortunately, the memorial A dr

complex is named after Khongjom instead Pea

Fron

of Anglo-Manipuri War. The AMWHs JC S

Meit
deported to Kalapani for waging war against Extr
British Empire are so far not given their due Con
July
importance. The

Nee
Mas

The sacrifice of these heroes transported to Strir

Kalapani needs to be treated equally with Artic

Mini

those Heroes martyred in Manipur. Even Man

India
then, there is still no proper record of their The

life particularly during and after their The

Des

Kalapani deportation. The only database Ahe

which records the names of the AMWHs Ajol

Anc

transported to Kalapani is the MSA of GoM. Wat

Relie
Apart from the names with some basic Tale

information, there are no details particular Bala

Avo

about their biographical background during Mais

andafter life of their deportation. Ho

Man
 Eng
The two state level observations related to Clas

Anglo-Manipur War of 1891 seem to have Eikh

Lem

little relevance and no mention in the Sun

observation of 13th August as well as the Mor

'Tou

23rd April as both the observations are Dem

An a
dominated by the narratives of the specific Calit

events Such as hanging of Jubaraj Lett

Save

Tikendrajit and Thangal Generaland heroism Acti

of Paona Brajabashi and the battle of MLA

Met

Khongjom. Sit-ir

Siler

Tale

Their sacrifice for the motherland should Peac

Com

deservingly come to public notice so as to Valle

not go obliviously in obscurity. The initiatives Firin

Con

taken up by the Preservation Committee of Man

Relie
Deported War Heroes (PCDWHs) and All Supi

Manipur Working Journalists' Union For

India

(AMWJU) should be backed by the Man

Government and pursued officially at the CSO

Dist

highest level. Eval

Repl
Gua

People of Manipur certainly will not know Tarc

Des

much about these Manipur War Heroes Sixtt

except that some Manipur War Heroes are Thin

Relie

transported for life at Kalapani. The freedom Kuki

fighters imprisoned at the Cellular Jail Flora

Sit-ir

during the period of 1901-1938 were 513 in Flora

The

number. By that time, there were no longer Raj

any Manipur War Heroes at Cellular Jail as Sit-i

Rah

the Manipur War Heroes have already been Prot

Flora
released by 1906. HSL
HSL
 HSL

But it is necessary to include the details of HSL

freedom fighterS SO aS to clear the HSL

HSL

misunderstanding of the people of Manipur. HSL

HSE
The people of Manipur were more or less - HSE

reasonably disappointed that the Manipur HSE

Fron

War Heroes were obliviously not in the list of COV

freedom fighters imprisoned at the cellular Dow

Jail. The data is based on that wall

inscription of the jail, and is divided into
three phase - the First Phase (1909-1921),
Second Phase (1922-1931), and Third Phase
(1932-1938).
Experts and activists are draining the energy
of the concerned public for the last many
years on disputing debate about the actual
date of the battles. Too much preoccupation
over this has diverted the attention and the
concerned public seems to lost track of the
AMWHs. There is still no proper and
authentic record of their life particularly
during and after the Kalapani deportation.
The MSA also did not have in possession
any related official documents which could
give a clear picture for these War Heroes
transported at Kalapani. Their sacrifice for
the motherland should not go in vain and be
made known to the present generation and
the posterity to come.
In this regard, the initiatives taken up by the
PCDWHs and AMWJU should be
appreciated and backed by the Government
and pursued officially at the highest level.
The first initiatives to trace the linkages
came from the side of All Manipur Working
Journalists' Union (AMWJU) with an 18
member team of Manipuri journalists left
Imphal to trace the old links with Kalapani
on February 17, 2003.

They also seem to assume that the Anglo

Manipur War heroes were interned at cellular
Jail but as they could not find any details in
the jail. They further reported that it was
only on 27 February, 2003 that they could
trace that the Anglo-Manipur War Heroes
were interned at Mount Harriet. Shri
Wangkhermcha Shamjai, President, All
Manipur Working Journalists' Uwrote an
application to the Andaman Administration
on 23rd May 2003, requesting for a piece of
land at Mount Harriet, Andaman Island for
the construction of the Memorial for the
Anglo-Manipur War Heroes and a Guest
House at Port Blair.
The letter was responded by Shri S. A.
Awaradi, Director (Youth Affairs, Sports &
Culture) bearing the file no 10
31/YAS&C/2002/320 dated 13th June 2003,
with a positive note. However, the initiatives
taken up by the AMWJU, the matter could
not be taken forward as the state
government seems to have not given any
importance to it. So the first initiative to
build the memorial of the Anglo-Manipur
War Heroes remains inactive. A Second
media team comprisingof 22-member team
of AMVWJU visited the island on their
external tour also visited Mount Harriet in
the year 2013 but could not progress further.

The second phase of initiative was taken up

Preservation Committee of Deported
Manipuri War Heroes in Andaman and
Nicobar Islands. The President of the
committee, Shri YTomba Singh, told us in an
interview that, few of the likeminded groups
from different walk of life came together to
trace the linkages of our deported Anglo
Manipur War Heroes at Kalapani and thus
they formed the Committee called
"Preservation Committee of Deported
Manipuri War Heroes in Andaman & Nicobar
Islands around the year 2004/5.

It was more like an organic group, where

anybody interested in this issue was allowed
to be part of the group. They have intensified
their movement since 2017 onwards. They
informed us that the visit of 2019 was very
successfully and they could feel that their
effortsare getting results.
The Land Allotment Committee under the
Chairmanship of the Principal Secretary
(Revenue), Andaman and Nicobar
Administration in their meeting held on
27/06/2019 discuss the request of the
President, Preservation Committee of
Deported Manipuri War Heroes in Andaman
and Nicobar Island recommended the
proposal for allotment of land for setting of
a Museum for the Anglo-Manipur War
Heroes.

The intimation from the Gol to name six

islands at Andaman could be because of the
attentiveness and concern of the present
Government at the centre to acknowledge
the contributions of Manipur in fighting the
British Empire and the initiatives of these
organisations. It is high time to pool
together the resources and expertise in
collaboration with the government and
brings out an authentic official report and
built a memorial complex for them in Imphal
as well as at Andaman.

A detailed report along theline of "Martyrs

of India's Freedom Struggle (1857-1947)"
commissioned by Ministry of Culture in the
year 2016 should be developed and brought
out for the deported Manipur War Heroes in
particular and North Eastern States in
general.
The importance of such an official report
and acomplex can be seen in the context of
the memorial complex being built in
Manipur, for their heroes of Second World
War by the British as well as Japanese. They
Visit Manipur every year to pay homage to
their fallen heroes, on the contrary, the
names of those Manipuri deported to
Kalapanifor fighting for the freedom of their
motherland are not even in public memory.

* Shukhdeba Sharma Hanjabam /

Aheibam Koireng Singh wrote this article
for Imphal Times
This article was webcasted on November
26, 2020.