Imphal(Manipur), April 22: Manipur ground to a halt Wednesday as three separate shutdowns choked life across 12 of the state’s 16 districts, leaving roads empty, shutters down, and the government pleading for a return to normalcy.
The Imphal valley remained under lockdown for a fifth straight day after Meira Paibis and civil society groups extended their strike that began at midnight on April 18. The women-led blockade, spread across five to six Meitei-majority districts, erupted over the April 7 killing of two children and the wounding of their mother in Bishnupur, allegedly by suspected Kuki militants. Protesters manned barricades at key junctions, forcing passenger and goods vehicles off the streets while markets, shops, and roadside stalls stayed sealed.
In the hills, the United Naga Council’s total shutdown froze all Naga-inhabited areas from midnight on April 19. The apex Naga body is demanding accountability for the April 18 killing of two Naga civilians in Ukhrul, including a retired Army man, allegedly by suspected Kuki militants.
Churachandpur woke to its own 13-hour freeze from dawn Wednesday, called by Zomi frontal organisations under the Zomi Coordination Committee seeking justice for late BJP MLA Vungzagin Valte. Schools, colleges, shops, and markets closed across the Kuki-Zo-dominated district, with only a handful of pharmacies functioning. Volunteers blocked thoroughfares with makeshift barriers but allowed ambulances and emergency services to pass. No violence was reported.
Valte, 62, was brutally attacked in Imphal during the ethnic clashes of May 4, 2023. After months of treatment in Delhi, he was airlifted from Imphal to New Delhi on February 8 as his condition worsened, and died at a Gurugram hospital on February 21.
Despite direct appeals from Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh and Home Minister Konthoujam Govindas Singh, the protesting groups have refused to relent. Speaking Tuesday at the inauguration of the Wangjing-Tentha C.D. Block office in Thoubal, the Chief Minister slammed the “unwarranted and senseless” shutdowns, saying they sow confusion and corner the government. Both leaders urged civil society and the public to withdraw the strikes for the sake of public welfare and governance.
