IMPHAL, OCTOBER 15: The 18-hour shut down called by various insurgent outfits hit normal life in Manipur on Saturday. However, there were no reports of any untoward incidents during the shutdown which concluded at 6 pm.
A committee of six insurgent groups more known as the CorCom called the 18-hour general strike throughout the state from midnight (October14) to protest Manipur’s merger with India on this day in 1949.
The committee comprises the Kangleipak Communist Party, the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup, the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak, the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (Progressive), the Revolutionary People’s Front and the United National Liberation Front, also observed a “black day” on Saturday.
Shops and business houses remained shut. Schools, colleges, banks and some of government offices in the state capital were also closed. Imphal was completely shutdown with people remaining indoors. However people in Imphal come out for last minute shopping after the shutdown.
The inter-district bus services, however, were suspended. All inter-state transport services, including buses and trucks, did not ply along the Imphal-Mao and Imphal-Jiribam sectors of the two National Highways which passed through Senapati and Tamenglong districts.
The situation was reported tense in Tamenglong district in view of the Rongmei Naga Youth Organisation sponsored ongoing indefinite bandh along the Imphal-Jiribam route demanding immediate repairing of the most worsen portion of highway near Makru Bridge.
However, the general strike did not have much impact in some of the hill district headquarters including Churachandpur, Senapati and Ukhrul. Sources said elaborate security measures were put in place to prevent any disruptive activities, particularly in the valley, where the strike evoked total response.
