Imphal: The All-Manipur United Clubs’ Organisation and four allied civil society groups launched a major mass agitation across the state on Saturday, staging a large sit-in protest at the CYC premises in Imphal East to oppose any administrative division of Manipur.
The joint front, which includes the Manipuri Students’ Federation, the All-Manipur Women’s Voluntary Association, Poirei Leimarol Meira Paibi Apunba Manipur, and the Committee on Human Rights, warned that they would escalate public demonstrations to counter alleged attempts by central and state authorities to destabilize the region.
Speaking at the protest site, AMUCO President S. Sanjoy declared that the public would block any attempt to fragment the state through communal administrative structures or autonomous councils. He strongly condemned the October 19 killing of three civilians at Khongbal Sunurok Uyok Hill, accusing state-sponsored proxy forces of orchestrating the attack.
Sanjoy also raised concerns over a closed-door meeting held on October 22 between Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand, central peace interlocutor A.K. Mishra, and retired Lieutenant General Rana Pratap Kalita, suggesting the talks pointed toward a discreet plan to alter the state’s geopolitical boundaries.
The agitation is anchored by a strict six-point charter of demands:
• Territorial Integrity: Total protection of current administrative boundaries against any community-based divisions.
• NRC Update: Immediate implementation of the National Register of Citizens using 1951 as the base year to rectify demographic imbalances.
• Electoral Review: Cancellation of the Special Intensive Revision 2026 electoral rolls due to alleged corruption.
• IDP Resettlement: A rapid, safe, and structured rehabilitation plan for displaced citizens in relief camps.
• AFSPA Repeal: The permanent removal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 from the state.
• Security Crackdown: An impartial federal intervention to halt militant violence and restore civic normalcy.
Sanjoy noted that historical precedents in the Northeast showed autonomous councils often served as a stepping stone to full statehood fission, a trajectory the current movement intends to fiercely resist. He recalled that these core concerns were previously formally submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a memorandum dated September 7, 2023.