Northeast’s first tribal freedom fighters’ museum in Manipur soon

The first tribal freedom fighters’ museum is all set to come up at Makhel village in Manipur’s Senapati district bordering Nagaland. The museum will be developed by Manipur’s tribal affairs and hills department. The foundation stone of the proposed museum was laid down on Thursday by Manipur minister of tribal affairs and hills N Kayisii. He was accompanied by state public health engineering minister and local MLA L Dikho, senior officials of the department and district officials. Makhel is located about 105 km north of Imphal and is primarily inhabited by the Mao community. “The upcoming museum is the first of its kind in the Northeast,” said minister Kayisii while addressing a gathering after the foundation laying ceremony. He sought people’s cooperation in developing the museum and thanked the villagers for donating 23.6 acres of land for the museum. “The museum would help in creating a platform for different communities of the state to have frequent interactions and bring better understanding among them,’ said MLA Dikho. “The project, which is estimated to cost around Rs 15 crore, will start once the museum narrative is approved of by a competent authority,” said director of Tribal Affairs and Hills Department C Arthur Worchuiyo. Worchuiyo further informed that there is a national-level tribal freedom fighters’ museum in Gujarat and seven other tribal freedom fighters’ museums in other parts of the country.