Amar Chitra Katha Executive Editor Reena Puri on Sunday issued an apology for together with Manipuri army hero Ponam Brajbasi in her assortment “Tribal Leaders of the Freedom Struggle” as a part of the Amrit Mahotsav celebrations of Independence.
The apology comes two days after 4 Imphal-based scholar organizations – AMSU, MSF, KSA and SUK – objected to the inclusion of Brajbasi within the version, banning the comedian ebook.
Amar Chitra Katha in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Culture has introduced out a model of the comics.
Brajbasi was a military officer within the Manipuri kingdom of Kanglipak and fought towards the British within the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891. The conflict happened when the British tried to manage the rule of Manipur, inserting their very own ruler within the seat of the king. a revolt. It is believed that Brajbasi acquired a proposal to work for the British and when he refused, he was executed.
“The conflict of 1891 has nothing to do with the Indian freedom wrestle. Manipuri military was defending our state. Then how can or not it’s included on this Amrit Chitra Katha ebook? Also, Manipuris are usually not tribal, so how can the federal government incorporate the story of Brajbasi in a ebook about tribal freedom fighters? This is extremely condemnable,” S Bidyananda, convener of the Joint Student Coordination Committee, instructed The Indian Express.
In the apology, Puri mentioned: “Amar Chitra Katha regrets using the story of a Manipuri warrior, Ponam Brajbasi, in his assortment Tribal Leaders of the Freedom Struggle, printed in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, which was printed within the Freedom Struggle. was printed as a part of actions to rejoice Amrit Festival. The warrior’s identify was inadvertently positioned within the checklist of tribal warriors. We have eliminated the story from the gathering and apologize for any inconvenience brought about to the Manipuri folks.
“Brajabasi is a crucial character of Manipur. His story shouldn’t be solely to profit the state. Inclusion is an act of appropriation by the centre. Although this isn’t the primary such case, the federal government ought to have saved in thoughts the historic accuracy. He was neither a tribal nor the conflict was associated to the liberty motion. The authorities is pushing the concept of a unitary, singular India, which is problematic. And by means of this homogenization, the Center shouldn’t be permitting Manipuris to retain their distinctive collective recollections,’ mentioned Homen Thangjam, a trainer at Manipuri University. Meanwhile, sources within the Ministry of Culture mentioned “mistakes could happen”.
The ministry is accused of publishing the tales of 75 freedom fighters. It has already introduced out three editions – first on 20 ladies freedom fighters, second on 15 ladies Constituent Assembly members and third on 20 tribal freedom fighters.
“We are looking at hundreds of freedom fighters and there is a long process of shortlisting the names. We are trying to represent every state. We forward the list of unsung heroes to Amar Chitra Katha and they further shortlist the names based on their research. He had already cut out 4-5 names from the book on tribal freedom fighters, knowing that the proposed names were not Adivasis. So, of course it is possible that there has been a mistake,” mentioned a supply within the tradition ministry.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
