Imphal, June 8: A monument to Manipuri heroism is set to be built in the faraway Andaman and Nicobar islands, over a century after monarch Kulachandra Singh and his loyal band of freedom fighters were incarcerated by the British on Mount Herriet.

The islands find mention on the pages of Manipur’s chequered history, but the state’s dream of building a memorial there has remained unfulfilled.

In fact, the memorial has been a long-cherished dream of the Manipuris.

The Andaman and Nicobar islands administration has agreed to provide a plot to the Manipur government for construction of a monument at Mount Herriet.

The decision was conveyed in a letter to the president of the All-Manipur Working Journalists Union, Wangkhemcha Shyamjai.

A team from the union, during a recent tour of the islands, had requested the islands’ administration to provide a plot.

“The administration has considered the request of the union for allocation of the land and would recommend for approval of the monument’s construction from the Union environment and forest ministry as the site falls within the reserve forest area,” the letter said.

The administration has asked the scribes’ body to submit a project proposal.

Immediately after getting the positive response from the Andaman and Nicobar administration, the union met chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and apprised him of the matter.

The delegation also urged the chief minister to pursue the matter with his Andaman and Nicobar counterpart.

It has long been believed that freedom fighters from Manipur exiled by the British at the islands were held prisoners at the Cellular Jail.

However, the Manipur journalists, during the tour, found that they were, in fact, imprisoned at Mount Herriet.

Kulachandra Singh took over as king of Manipur on September 23 1890, after a brief power struggle. With the advent of the British, a Manipur War had broken out. After the war of Independence in 1891, Maharaja Kulachandra was arrested on May 8, 1891.

He was tried before a special commission under the presidency of Lt. Col. St. John Mitchell on charge of waging war against the Queen. After this, he was shifted to the islands for life with forfeiture of properties. He died on January 26, 1934.