SHILLONG: Meghalaya is commemorating the 162nd death anniversary of the revolutionary freedom fighter U Kiang Nangbah. The entire state pays tribute to the martyrdom of U Kiang Nangbah, who led a rebellion against the British army and fought for the rights of the people.
U Kiang Nangbah was a child when the British annexed the Jaintia Hills in 1835. He challenged the British in 1857 when the 1st war of Indian Independence was organized. However, Nangbah was arrested on 27th December 1862, and three days later he was finally executed by the British on 30th December 1862.
It is said that Nangbah had gathered the local people on the bank of the river Syntu Ksiar to inspire the natives to stand up against the mighty Empire. When the British government started imposing taxes and interfering with the traditional customs of the locals, the tribes of the Jaintia Hills began harboring an anti-British sentiment.
“Brothers and sisters, please look carefully at my face when I die on the gallows. If my face turns towards the east, my country will be free from the foreign yoke within 100 years, and if it turns towards the west, my country will remain in bondage for good,” these were the last words of the revolutionary to the British at the gallows.
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