Security personnel keep vigil during a 48-hour State-wide bandh called by Meitei organisation Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) in protest against the removal of the State’s name from a government bus, in Imphal Valley, Manipur, on May 22, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

GUWAHATI

Normal life was paralysed in Manipur’s Imphal Valley on Thursday (May 22, 2025) during the 48-hour general strike enforced by an influential Meitei organisation.

The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) called the strike from May 21 midnight to protest the masking of the words ‘Manipur State Transport’ displayed on a government bus carrying a team of journalists to cover the Shirui Lily Festival in the Naga-dominated Ukhrul, about 80 km from the State’s capital Imphal.

Armed forces personnel allegedly asked the bus travellers to mask the words at Gwaltabi checkpoint, about 25 km from Imphal, before proceeding to Ukhrul through a stretch inhabited by the Kuki-Zo people.

Hundreds of protestors spilt onto the roads to enforce the strike. All vehicles were off the roads, and the shops and other commercial establishments, markets, educational institutions, and government and private offices remained closed.

No violence reported

There were no reports of violence as the authorities deployed security personnel in sensitive areas to thwart any untoward incidents. The strike had little or no impact on Kuki and Naga-inhabited hills around Imphal Valley.

On Wednesday (May 21, 2025), the COCOMI demanded an apology from Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla and the resignation of the State’s Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh, Chief Secretary P.K. Singh, and Director General of Police Rajiv Singh, holding them responsible for the incident which “undermined the identity of Manipur, its name, pride and respect”.

The organisation accused the trio of surrendering the pride, dignity and legitimacy of Manipur to the “narco-terrorist groups”, a reference to Kuki-Zomi extremist groups under the Suspension of Operation (SOP) agreement with the Centre.

The State government ordered a probe into the incident and constituted a two-member inquiry committee comprising Commissioner (Home) N. Ashok Kumar and Secretary (Information Technology) Th. Kirankumar Singh.

The committee has been asked to look into the lapses, if any, by suggesting measures to prevent the recurrence of such a situation, and submit its report within 15 days from May 21.

The Governor inaugurated the festival, held after a two-year gap, on Tuesday. The festival is timed with the seasonal blooming of the Shirui lily, named after a village, at an altitude of over 5,600 ft.