Manipur Rifles jawans offer a gun salute to Bir Tikendrajit at Thangal ecological park in Senapati, as part of a Patriot’s Day programme on Wednesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Imphal, Aug. 13: That August 13 would be marked as a day of mourning was etched on the Manipuri calendar in 1891 when freedom fighter Bir Tikendrajit was hanged by the British.

That weightlifter Monika Devi was to perform on this very day at the Beijing Olympics suddenly made the anguish even more poignant.

For years, observing Patriot’s Day on August 13 had become a ritual. The same floral tributes, speeches and functions.

An inexplicable ouster from the Olympics contingent and the day assumed a new meaning.

Unlike in past years, when only the Manipur government held a ceremonial function at Bir Tikendrajit park here, this year student organisations, social organisations and political parties joined the Patriot’s Day programmes.

“People in Manipur are observing Patriots’ Day today like never before. Maybe because of the injustice done to Monika. People are considering denial of the weightlifter from Beijing Olympics a form of repression,” CPI state secretary Langol Iboyaima said.

Former minister N. Mangi Singh agreed. The day reminded people of the past struggle of the forefathers to defend Manipur and the Monika case has drummed up a sense of patriotism in the minds of the people, he said.

The day began with a ministerial team, led by chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, paying floral tributes at Hijam Yaichampat, Tikendrajit’s graveyard, and then at Thangal mandir. Ibobi Singh also opened an extended portion of the Bir Tikendrajit park in the morning.

The main function organised by state government was held at the park in the afternoon. At the programme, Governor Gurbachan Jagat and chief minister Ibobi Singh goaded the youths to follow the freedom fighter’s ideals.

But Monika weighed heavy was on the minds of student leaders.

“New Delhi is trying to suppress the people of Manipur. The manner in which she was thrown out of the Indian contingent to the Olympics is a glaring example of the suppression of Manipuri people by the Indian government,” P.C. Newton, adviser of the Democratic Students Alliance, Manipur, said at a function organised jointly by the alliance and the All Manipur Students Union at C.C. Higher Secondary School.

Former Thoubal district president of the All Manipur Students Union, M. Madhumangol, admitted that Patriots Day was “neglected” in the past by the people of Manipur. “We should observe the day every year to instil a sense of patriotism in young minds,” he said.