Meghalaya, Manipur & Tripura Days

The North Eastern region has been created each with a different background under different circumstances. Two of the seven princely states – Manipur and Tripura were merged with the Union of India after Independence. All three became full fledged states on January 21. Another Himalayan state Himachal Pradesh also attained statehood day on January 25.

In 1949, the Indian government entered into a merger agreement with the Maharaja of Manipur. Following Manipur’s accession to India in 1947, the political agency administered by Assam was abolished. Two years later, Manipur became a union territory governed by a chief commissioner and an elected territorial council. In 1969, the office of chief commissioner was replaced by that of a lieutenant governor, and the status was later changed to governor when Manipur  became a constituent state of the Indian Union on January 21, 1972.

Tripura initially refused to sign the Instrument of Accession and merged with India. The last ruling Maharaja of Tripura, Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya, assumed the throne in 1923. Before his passing in 1947, he settled Tripura’s accession to India. On October 15, 1949, Tripura officially became a part of India, transitioning to a union territory on September 1, 1956, and achieving statehood on January 21, 1972. In the 1980s, Tripura witnessed significant ethnic violence, primarily driven by local demands for an independent tribal state. 

In 1988, tribal dissidents ceased hostilities and dropped demands for autonomy in return for increased participation in state government. Unlike Manipur and Tripura, Meghalaya, was part of Assam with Shillong as the capital of the undivided state. In the mid-1830s, most local rulers submitted to British rule. Over the following century, the British exercised political control over the Khasi hills and the Garo hills. But the tribes, left to themselves, were able to preserve their traditional way of life in seclusion.

In 1947, the rulers of the region acceded to India. India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, formulated a policy to safeguard the way of life of the tribal peoples. The region, along with other tribal areas, received special protection in the Indian constitution under 6th schedule. Although initially included within the state of Assam, it retained a significant degree of autonomy. As Assamese became the state’s official language in 1960, a movement for autonomy and self-rule gained momentum.

Unlike in many other hill regions in North Eastern India, this movement was largely peaceful and constitutional. Meghalaya was established as an autonomous state within Assam in 1970 and achieved full statehood on January 21, 1972 retaining Shillong as capital and Assam later had the new capital at Dispur (Guwahati).

But despite merging with the Union of India or carved out of Assam, the demand for a separate sovereign state remains a demand from many parts of all these three states and even others. Splinter insurgent groups carry out sporadic strikes killing security persons and officials. But over the years these groups have become inoperative or dormant. 

Even in the case of Assam the biggest state still faces demand for an independent Assom from remaining leaders of ULFA led by Paresh Baruah now operating from foreign soil.