IMPHAL, April 22 - President Pranab Mukherjee will be arriving here tomorrow to attend the Khongjom Day observation. He will also inaugurate a monument-cum-tourist centre at Khongjom, about 35 km south of here in Manipur�s Thoubal district.
Khongjom Day is observed on April 23 every year to pay tributes to the brave sons of Manipur who made the supreme sacrifice in the last battle of independence popularly known as �Khongjom War� against the Britishers on April 23,1891.
Co-ordination Committee (CorCom), a conglomerate of major armed groups in Manipur has announced to boycott the President�s visit alleging that the visit is an attempt to project the martyrs of Khongjom battle as freedom fighters of India. In view of the boycott call, security arrangements have been intensified here for the official visit of the President.
President is scheduled to arrive here around 2 pm and then inaugurate the Khongjom War memorial monument cum tourist centre after paying floral tributes to the statue of Major Paona Brajabashi at the picturesque Kheba hillock besides addressing the gathering. He is expected to leave for New Delhi around 5 pm.
Meanwhile greeting the people on the occasion of Khongjom Day, Governor V Shanmuganathan in a message appealled to the people to follow the path shown by our forefathers and renew our pledge to preserve and defend the sovereignty of our country, he said, �We should forget our differences and stand united to defeat the divisive forces.�
