Meitei org's strike call over removal of ‘Manipur' from bus paralyses Imphal
Businesses, educational institutions, and markets were shut and public transport remained off the roads in Imphal on Thursday in response to a 48-hour strike call against a directive for the removal of 'Manipur' from a state transport bus.
Kuldiep Singh, who was named the state's security adviser as part of efforts to tackle the protracted ethnic violence in Manipur, defended the directive. He said it was a precautionary measure to avoid incidents like the one in Kangpokpi, where suspected Kuki-Zo militants attacked a bus.
The ethnic violence in the state has since May 2023 claimed at least 260 lives and displaced around 60,000. It has forced Meiteis and Kukis to withdraw to their strongholds. The Meiteis, mostly Hindu, live largely in the plains of Imphal valley, and the Kukis, predominantly Christian, in the hills. Fortified buffer zones separate the Meitei and Kuki-Zo areas.
On Wednesday, the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a Meitei organisation, called for the bandh against the bus directive. It demanded the governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla's apology within 48 hours and called for Kuldiep Singh, chief secretary P K Singh, and police chief Rajiv Singh's resignations.
The World Meitei Council, another body of the state's dominant community, endorsed COCOMI's stand and criticised what it described as the Manipur government's senseless decision under the president's rule. 'Would the government of India accept it if any power in the world asked to hide the name 'India' or the national flag in any national or international forum?' it asked. 'The government...must tender an unconditional apology...'
Protesters blocked roads in Imphal and its outskirts using logs and burning tyres. Imphal's main markets, Paona, Thangal, and Khwairamband Ima, were deserted on Thursday.
An Imphal resident called the directive to remove 'Manipur' from the bus highly condemnable. 'This is a serious issue and could escalate if necessary action is not taken in time.'
The state has been under the president's rule since February, when N Biren Singh resigned as the chief minister, days after the Supreme Court directed a central forensics lab to probe leaked audio tapes allegedly featuring him purportedly saying the ethnic violence was instigated at his behest.
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