Haipou Jadonang Malangmei (Aged 26) was a Kabui Naga spiritual leader and political activist born in 1905 in Kambiron, Tamenglong, Manipur, India. He established the Heraka religious movement based on the ancestral Kabui religion and declared himself to be the “patriarch” of the Kabui people. However, the movement faced opposition from Christian converts. Jadonang wanted his people to forget past hatreds, inter-village feuds, and communal tensions, and unite against foreign colonists and missionaries.
Jadonang admired Mahatma Gandhi and planned to express solidarity with him through a dance troupe of 200 Naga boys and girls. However, Gandhi’s visit was canceled, and they did not meet. Jadonang’s first arrest came a week before the Angami-led Naga Club submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission, requesting self-determination for the Nagas. His arrest only increased his popularity among the Nagas. After his release, he gradually built an army called Riphen, which had 500 men and women at its peak.
In January 1931, British officials received reports that Jadonang was planning to declare war against them by the end of that year. There were reports of secret meetings and the collection of guns in Naga villages. Moreover, Jadonang had asked his followers to pay taxes to him from the fiscal year 1931-32. On 13 June 1931, Jadonang was declared guilty of murders and was hanged to death on 29 August 1931 at 6 am on the bank of the Nambul River behind Imphal jail, Manipur, India. His body was buried in accordance with Naga traditions in his native village, Puiluan.
Haipou Jadonang
(1905 – 1931) – (Manipur)
Haipou Jadonang Malangmei (Aged 26) was a Kabui Naga spiritual leader and political activist born in 1905 in Kambiron, Tamenglong, Manipur, India. He established the Heraka religious movement based on the ancestral Kabui religion and declared himself to be the “patriarch” of the Kabui people. However, the movement faced opposition from Christian converts. Jadonang wanted his people to forget past hatreds, inter-village feuds, and communal tensions, and unite against foreign colonists and missionaries.
Jadonang admired Mahatma Gandhi and planned to express solidarity with him through a dance troupe of 200 Naga boys and girls. However, Gandhi’s visit was canceled, and they did not meet. Jadonang’s first arrest came a week before the Angami-led Naga Club submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission, requesting self-determination for the Nagas. His arrest only increased his popularity among the Nagas. After his release, he gradually built an army called Riphen, which had 500 men and women at its peak.
In January 1931, British officials received reports that Jadonang was planning to declare war against them by the end of that year. There were reports of secret meetings and the collection of guns in Naga villages. Moreover, Jadonang had asked his followers to pay taxes to him from the fiscal year 1931-32. On 13 June 1931, Jadonang was declared guilty of murders and was hanged to death on 29 August 1931 at 6 am on the bank of the Nambul River behind Imphal jail, Manipur, India. His body was buried in accordance with Naga traditions in his native village, Puiluan.
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