Protest march by Meitei body on Wednesday, Manipur govt cancels curfew relaxation, tightens security

Imphal, Sep 5 (IANS) Apprehending serious law and order problems, the Manipur government has cancelled curfew relaxations in Meitei-dominated five valley districts on Wednesday and massive security measures put in place in view of the protest march called by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI).

The COCOMI, an umbrella body of the Meitei community, and its women wing, called the protest march on Wednesday to remove an army barricade at Phougakchao Ikhai in Bishnupur district, a few kilometres away from tribal-dominated Churachandpur district.

Locals claim that due to the army barricade, they were not able to visit their homes at Torbung, which they had to vacate after the ethnic violence broke out on May 3.

Officials said that a full curfew was clamped in all the five valley districts -- Bishnupur, Kakching, Thoubal, Imphal West, and Imphal East and a huge contingent of security forces were deployed in different districts as a preventive measure from Tuesday evening.

For the past many weeks, curfew was relaxed in all the five valley districts from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

The state government on Tuesday night has appealed to the COCOMI to withdraw the protest March.

Information and Public Relations Minister Sapam Ranjan said that COCOMI has been planning to stage a protest March at PhougakchaoIkhai and Torbung area by breaking through the army barricades on Wednesday.

The Minister, who is also the government spokesman, further said that the government has removed many of the barricades already in different parts of the state.

Moreover, around 700 displaced people of Torbung area, who were taking refuge in various relief camps, have started to come back and resettle in their original houses, which had not been damaged during the past few days.

The government has sought the general public and also the civil society organisations to support the various security provisions and steps taken up by the government, the minister said.

COCOMI media coordinator Somendro Thokchom earlier in the day said that the organisation had earlier urged the government and the authorities concerned to remove the barricade at Phougakchao Ikhai by August 30.

While urging people to storm the barricade, Thokchom said the state government should bear full responsibility if anything untoward happens.