Twin Shutdown Calls, Protests Paralyse Manipur After Child Deaths
In Ukhrul district suspected militants fired on a convoy of civilian vehicles travelling from Imphal.
Guwahati: Clashes between protestors and police following the shutdown called by two different organisations in protest against recent killings in both valley and hill districts brought normal life in trouble-torn Manipur to a standstill on Tuesday.
According to security sources, educational institutions, markets and public transport services remained closed across all five Meitei-dominated valley districts as well as in Naga-inhabited areas of Ukhrul and Senapati. Sit-in protests were held at multiple locations in Imphal Valley, including Uripok and Nagaram.
Defying the curfew, a seven-km-long torch rally was taken out from Mayai Lambi to Keishamthong in Imphal West district on Monday night. The protest march, largely attended by women groups, turned violent and clashed with the security forces, the sources said.
Security sources informed that repeated appeals failed to stop protestors from defying the curfew. Forces were compelled to fire several rounds of tear gas shells in Keishamthong to disperse the crowd, which insisted on proceeding another 200 metres towards Keisampat, close to the Lok Bhavan and the BJP state office.
Claiming that protesters resorted to stone pelting by using catapults, security sources said Manipur police arrested 19 people for violating curfew and committing offences, including blocking roads and damaging public property, in Greater Imphal. They were nabbed from different parts of Imphal West district.
The shutdown in the valley was called by the women’s group Meira Paibis, which began a five-day protest on Sunday following the April 7 blast in Tronglaobi village in Bishnupur district. The explosion killed a five-year-old boy and his six-month-old sister while they were asleep and left their mother injured.
The incident triggered widespread outrage, with protests turning violent in some areas. During one such protest outside a CRPF camp, three people were killed and around 30 others injured when security forces opened fire after a mob stormed the camp.
In the hill districts, the United Naga Council (UNC) enforced a three-day “total shutdown” from Monday to protest the April 18 attack in Ukhrul district, where suspected militants fired on a convoy of civilian vehicles travelling from Imphal.
Various civil society organisations from both the valley and hill areas strongly condemned the brutal killings, alleging that the victims were shot by Kuki militants using sniper rifles.
Retired Army personnel and another civilian were killed in the firing at T.M. Kasom village, an incident that occurred a day after former chief minister N. Biren Singh visited the Tangkhul Naga-majority district and appealed for peace.
The ongoing protest and shutdown calls took another twist on Monday when the influential Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (Cocomi) announced a boycott of the ruling BJP in the state.
The Cocomi, a conglomerate of Imphal Valley-based Meitei civil society organisations, appealed to people not to participate in any activity of the BJP or its leaders and demanded a detailed statement from the Chief Minister on why the state government had failed to prevent attacks on civilians.
