JOIN USWithin days of President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurating the 1891 Anglo-Manipur war memorial in Thoubal districts of Manipur, the inaugural memorial stone inscription unveiled by the President has gone missing.
This has brought major embarrassment for the Okram Ibobi Singh led Congress government as the Khongjom War Memorial Trust has lodged a police complaint about the missing plaque indicating government negligence.
It was on April 23 last that President Mukherjee came to Manipur to attend the celebrations of the 125th Khongjom Day observation and inaugurated the Khongjom War Monument cum Tourist Complex at Khebaching Khongjom, in Thoubal districts of Manipur.
Incidentally, Thoubal is also the constituency of Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh.
On Wednesday, an FIR was lodged by former Manipur minister and chief of Khongjom War Memorial Trust M Hemanta at Khongjom police station.
“The trust made an on-the-spot inspection of the site after seeing media report on April 24 that the plate had fallen off from its wooden structure in which it was attached to. We found that media reports were true. This shows government negligence as well,” Hemanta told DH over phone from state capital Imphal.
The trust members have also found that another memorial stone plaque, inaugurated by former President V V Giri in 1972 at Khongjom, has also disappeared.
Although there was no official word from the state government on this matter, sources from Imphal hinted that the chief minister in all likelihood would order a probe.
The Anglo-Manipur War was an armed conflict between the British Empire and the Kingdom of Manipur. The war lasted between March 31 to April 27 1891, ending in a British victory.