1. CoTU has imposed a 48-hour total shutdown in Sadar Hills Kangpokpi, disrupting normal life in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district.
2. The shutdown, effective from 6:00 a.m., aims to address objectionable events and calls for rationalizing law and order for both the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zo communities.
3. Kuki-Zo people held a massive rally and demonstration, enforcing the shutdown, leading to closed shops, halted vehicular movement, and a standstill along National Highway-2.
Imphal, Nov 11: The 48-hour total shutdown enforced by the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) in Sadar Hills Kangpokpi has brought normal life to a standstill in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district. Initiated at 6:00 a.m., the shutdown is set to continue until 6:00 a.m. on November 13, with the CoTU citing objectionable events and the need to address law and order issues for both the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zo communities as the basis for their action.
As part of their mass movement, Kuki-Zo people held a large rally and demonstration in Kangpokpi District Headquarters, continuing through the night until the commencement of the total shutdown.
Thousands of Kuki-Zo individuals, predominantly women, gathered at Kangpokpi town and Gamgiphai to rigorously enforce the shutdown, resulting in the closure of shops, businesses, and educational institutions across the district. Vehicular movement along National Highway-2 also came to a standstill, allowing only emergency services, the press, and CoTU units to pass.
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Kangpokpi district in Manipur has witnessed heightened tensions as the Kuki-Zo community intensifies its mass movement, protesting what they perceive as ‘selective injustice and selective enforcement of the law’ by the Manipur Government led by N. Biren Singh. The demand for the release of two Kuki-Zo individuals arrested by Manipur police has fueled the unrest.
CoTU’s decision to impose the 48-hour total shutdown was made following an emergency meeting late Friday midnight, involving various units, departments, and civil society organizations.
The CoTU alleges discriminatory enforcement of law and order, pointing to incidents of anarchy by terror groups, looting of church offerings, attempts to resettle displaced Meiteis in Kuki-Zo areas, biased security deployment, and brutal killings of innocent Kuki-Zo civilians with state support. The CoTU warns of determining future actions based on the government’s response to their legitimate demands.
