Senapati bandh over Ibobi team visit
Women stage a sit-in at Imphal on Saturday. Picture by Eastern Projections
Imphal, Aug 8 : A lightning bandh greeted a ministerial team visiting Senapati town today to meet the leaders of the United Naga Council (UNC) in an attempt to break the impasse over elections to the six autonomous district councils in the five hill districts of Manipur.
Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh sent the team, comprising government spokesman and youth affairs and sports minister N. Biren Singh, tribal development minister D.D. Thaisii and information and public health engineering minister T.N. Haokip, to hold talks with UNC leaders.
The group has re-imposed a 20-day economic blockade along the Imphal-Jiribam and Imphal-Dimapur highways since Wednesday, demanding dissolution of the ADCs and a judicial inquiry into the May 6 police firing at Mao Gate. It also wants the government to withdraw Section 144 CrPC, IRB personnel and police commandos from the Naga areas and the ‘wanted’ tag on UNC president Samson Remei and All Naga Students Association, Manipur, (Ansam) president David Choro.
This is the second time that the UNC and other Naga groups have rejected an invitation for talks on their grievances. On Tuesday, Ibobi Singh had invited the UNC, Ansam and other Naga NGOs to a state-level round table meeting, but none of them turned up.
The chief minister then decided to send a ministerial team to Senapati town to meet the UNC leaders but they declared on Thursday that they would not meet the team.
Manipur chief secretary D.S. Poonia and the joint secretary (Northeast), ministry of home affairs, Navin Verma, also accompanied the ministerial team.
A UNC source confirmed that they did not meet the ministerial team. Sources said as soon as the team reached Senapati town at 10.45am, the town observed a “lightning bandh” with all shops downing shutters, people remaining indoors and vehicles staying off the roads. Tyres were also burnt to protest the team’s visit but no violence was reported. The town returned to normal after the team left for Imphal around 1.45pm.
The team stayed in the town for about three hours. The members met government officials, led by deputy commissioner Nidhi Kesharwani and superintendent of police Nishit K. Ujjwal, at the district headquarters.
After returning here, Biren Singh said the team did not meet the UNC leaders but spoke to officials and residents and explained to them the government’s stand that it was ready to make changes in the council act to give more power to the ADCs.
In another development, the Revolutionary Peoples Front blamed the “insensitive” state government for the frequent blockades. It slammed the government for failing to take timely steps to avoid the impact of the blockade.
The Conflict Widows Forum, Manipur, appealed to all not to impose blockades, saying that widows were the ones who suffered the most. It urged the government to look into the problems of widows.