'I belong to Manipur' says Mary Kom rubbishing reports of leaving the state

Mary Kom

Mary Kom has given a statement falsifying claims of a national newspaper that the Manipuri boxer was contemplating about leaving her home state. Due to excessive violence in the region and with the news about 18 Army personnel being gunned down by militants in Manipur filtering through, there were reports that Mary was thinking of leaving the state.

She issued the following statement:

“Dear friends, with reference to the article on Indian Express as published, I humbly and sincerely declare that my statement about the insurgency situation in Manipur has been misquoted.

I have not expressed or commented on any plans to ever shift from Manipur. I belong to Manipur and will always maintain this and I am proud to be an Indian at heart. Jai Hind. Being the proud brand ambassador of North Eastern region, I would never think of stating such and irresponsible comment. It is my duty to live up to the role which the country has entrusted me.”

- Mary Kom

The report in The Indian Express claimed that Mary admitted contemplating about leaving Manipur. It had quotes of the Manipuri boxer claiming that her family can not live in constant fear and if the problem persists, she may leave the state.

“It’s very difficult to decide whether to stay there or shift to some other state. I have my family there and also my academy. But we cannot continue to live in constant fear. If the problem persists, then let’s see, I may leave the state,” the paper quoted Mary as saying.

“We are all scared. Killings, blasts, nobody likes it. I have children now, but there is always stress and tension. When I was a child, I saw how difficult it is to live in such a situation. Let’s stop killing each other.

“Over the last couple of decades, we have suffered. The constant violence disrupts your life completely. It had reduced significantly for a few years, but is now back again.”

Another boxer who hails from Manipur – Sarita Devi – called the news about the Army men being gunned down “disturbing”.

The Asian Games bronze medallist said, “Such news is disturbing, especially since there was no such thing happening for a long time. This was sudden. We are all peace-loving people (in Manipur), we don’t like these things. We lose sleep. We grew up at a time when our movements were restricted because of this (violence). We hope our children don’t face the same problem.”

Her statement on facebook:

Dear friends, with reference to the article on Indian Express as published, I humbly and sincerely declare that my...

Posted by MC Mary Kom on Friday, 12 June 2015