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Our Correspondent
Imphal, April 11 (EMN): The 172nd death anniversary of Maharaj Nara Singh was commemorated at the historic Kangla Fort in Imphal on Monday.
Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh and Rajya Sabha MP Leishemba Sanajaoba led the ministers, MLAs and officials in paying tribute besides offering Tarpan at Nungjeng Pukhri Achouba.
Speaking on the occasion, Singh informed that “the state started paying tribute and respect to our great forefathers by organising functions at the state level to make people aware of their sacrifices towards protecting the motherland”.
Recalling the hardship faced by the forefathers during the seven years devastation (1819-1826) period and hard work of leaders -- Maharaj Gambhir Singh and Maharaja Nara Singh -- towards regaining their land from Awa (the then Burma), he said ‘whatever we have today is all because of the hard work and sacrifices of our great leaders’.
Urging people not to possess sectarian ideology and to stop thinking only about their respective communities, he appealed to everyone to work together for the overall development of the land.
Stressing on the need for every citizen of the state ‘to have knowledge of our history’, he informed that the state government had started seeing sites at Nongmaiching hills in the outskirts of Imphal to install statues of Maichou Taret and added that a statue of Maharaja Nara Singh would also be installed at the Western Gate of Kangla in 100 days.
He also stressed the need to preserve Leng Ondabi Pat located at Cachar district of Assam, which was named after the commitment of Maharaja Nara Singh. In his presidential speech, MP Sanajaoba stated that Maharaja Nara Singh had played an important part ‘in regaining our land from Awa’.
A contingent of 1st Battalion Manipur Rifles also conducted guard of honour, gun salute and sounded the last post as a mark of respect to the Late Maharaja Nara Sing.