Manipur unrest: Students of valley body force staff out of govt offices

GUWAHATI: Student volunteers of Meitei pressure group Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) went about forcing employees out of state and central govt offices across the valley districts Wednesday before putting locks on the doors, blaming administrative failure for recurrent violence by Kuki militant groups.

Deployment of armed security personnel at these offices didn't deter the protesters from going past the cordon to enforce the shutdown announced by COCOMI over the BJP-led govt's not acting on its commitment last week to start a "comprehensive crackdown" on Kuki militants within seven days. The organisation also wants state govt to revoke the contentious Afspa from six police station areas in five districts.

Dhanakumar Meitei, coordinator of COCOMI Students' Front, urged govt employees "not to come to office" in solidarity with the organisation.

As unrest escalated, state govt extended the ongoing mobile internet blackout by two more days until Nov 29 in nine districts - Imphal West, Imphal East, Kakching, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Pherzawl and Jiribam. Police arrested a 46-year-old woman for her alleged involvement in vandalism targeting residences of several MLAs and ministers on Nov 16.

The ongoing commotion in valley districts contrasted with six student organisations jointly appealing to the state govt to reopen all educational institutions from Thursday "in the interest of future generations". This comes a day after govt declared the closure of schools for an indefinite period.