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Shillong Dec.30: Have we ceasedto get inspired by the lives freedomfighters? This concern was raisedduring the 150th death anniversaryMeghalaya’s freedom fighter U KiangNangbah here on Sunday.Nangbah had played a great role ininspiring the Khasi-Pnar community intheir brave bid to drive away the Britishfrom Jaintia Hills in the war of 1862-63.“In my opinion, as years go by, livesfreedom fighters of the state seem tohave little influence. If we have beenfairly inspired by the life of U KiangNangbah and others freedom fighterslike U Tirot Sing Syiem and Pa ToganN Sangma, things would have nothappened like what is happeningtoday,” observed Meghalaya deputychief minister Bindo M Lanong whileaddressing the occasion held by SeiñRaij Shillong at Qualapatty.“Our leaders have struggled somuch for our cause, but up to whatextend has Kiang Nangbah’s and otherfreedom fighters have inspired andinfluenced us and the wholecommunity,” he wondered. MLA andformer president of the Khasi Students’Union (KSU) Paul Lyngdoh, who spokeon the “Relevance of U Kiang NangbahToday”, regretted that the history ofresistance movement against theBritish rule did not find even a footnotein the history of India.Lyngdoh recalled how U KiangNangbah had resisted the diktat of theBritish who denied access of justiceto the people besides imposing of taxand curtailing the right to worship andpractice of religion.Stating that money playedspoilsport to the freedom strugglewhich brought defeats to freedomfighters and leaders in the midst ofresisting the British might, Lyngdohpointed out that it was the corruptinfluence of money which destroys thesociety at present times.“I think the influence of money isquite similar then and now. Becauseof the influence of money, it is difficultto see clean governance anddevelopment. In many constituencies,U Kiang Nangbah Remembered in MeghalayaMeghalaya deputy chief minister Bindo MLanong (2nd right) gives away the KiangNangbah Sesquicentenary CommemorationAward to Dr Shobhan N Lamare, associateprofessor of history department in NEHU, at150th death anniversary of freedom fighter UKiang Nangbah, in Shillong on Sunday.many well qualified candidates couldnot come out as leaders due to role ofmoney power,” Lyngdoh said.Lyngdoh also called for unityamong the Khasis and Jaintias, sayingthe two communities cannot exist indivision which is microscopic.“Our population is very small andwe are even lesser in number thanthose 14 lakh people who joined thefuneral precession of Shiv Senasupremo Bal Thackeray at Mumbai inMaharastra in November this year.Lyngdoh expressed concern over thethe degradation of environment andpollution of rivers due to miningactivities in Jaintia Hills, the homelandof the freedom fighter.Earlier, Lyngdoh released a book“The Sacrifice,” a sesquicentennialtribute to U Kiang Nangbah whileLanong handed over the KiangNangbah SesquicentenaryCommemoration Award to Dr ShobhanN Lamare, associate professor ofhistory department in NEHU. On theoccasion, floral tributes were paid tothe triangular monument of U KiangNangbah unveiled on December 6,1985 on the premises of the StateCentral Library here.Wreaths were also laid at themonument of U Kiang Nangbah builtat Syntu Ksiar, Jowai beside Myntduriver in Jaintia Hills. U Kiang Nangbahwas born to Ka Rimai Nangbah atTpeppale in Jowai.The exact date of his birth is not- Reigning Lyngdohknown but it is said that he was a childat the time when the British annexedthe Jaintia kingdom in 1835. He defiedthe superior British might with hit-andruntactics rallying forth from the junglehide-outs to vanish again into theirdeep recesses.The British managed to seizeNangbah by trickery while he was lyingsick at Umkara on December 27,1862. On December 30, 1862, he washanged in public at Jowai and from thescaffold, he said to his countrymen,“If my face turns eastward when I dieon the rope, we shall be free within 100years. If it turns westward, we shallbe enslaved forever.”U Kiang Nangbah’s words provedprophetic indeed. The dying patriot’sface turned eastward and India becamefree in less than 100 years, on August15, 1947. (Seven Sisters Post 31.12.12)Pune Remembers KiangNongbah’s MartyrdomSHILLONG Jan 03: A group ofcitizens from Pune marked the 150thDeath Anniversary of legendryMeghalaya freedom fighter KiangNongbah at the historic venue of BharatItihas Sanshodhak Mandal in Pune onDecember 30 last year.The program “Smaran PurvanchalatilKrantiveerache - Kiang Nongbahyancha 150 va Balidan Smaran Din” toremember the Meghalaya freedomfighter’s martyrdom was organizedjointly by Pune based Raje ShivrayPratishthan and My Home India, a NGOworking for students and youths ofNorth East in rest of India.Sunil Deodhar, founder of My HomeIndia, delivered a speech on the heroicsof Kiang Nongbah against the Britishgovernment and his valuablecontribution to the freedom struggle ofIndia.“Many freedom fighters from NorthEast India, like the revolutionary KiangNongbah laid down their lives fightingthe British government for the freedomof India. However, their history is untold.There is a need to tell the history of(Contd. to Next Page)Heritage Explorer 7 January 2013