Manipur 48-hour bandh: Effigies of Union Home Minister, Governor burned in Bishnupur

Imphal: The 48-hour bandh supporters set on fire the effigies of the Union Home Minister, Manipur governor, chief secretary, police chief, and state security advisor during the last day of the 48-hour state bandh called by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) on Friday.

The volunteers of the COCOMI, mostly women, burnt the effigies at Bishnupur bazaar, demanding the resignation of these leaders from their present posts.

The agitators sought immediate resignation owing to their reckless administrations on the Manipur issue.

The COCOMI is demanding the resignations of these leaders during the bandh call period.

COCOMI had called the bandh in protest against the security forces' actions, specifically an incident on May 20.

On that day, security forces allegedly removed the name "Manipur" from a government-allocated vehicle for journalists en route to the Shirui Lily Festival at the Gwaltabi check post.

This incident, campaigners say, underscores the "reckless administration" by the leadership on sensitive state matters, particularly concerning the media.

Moreover, COCOMI also sought the resignations of these leaders.

On Friday, during the bandh period, the Bishunupur district police interrupted the effigy burning action halfway, but no arrests were reported in this case.

The demonstrators also raised slogans like "We demand immediate registrations of Amit Shah, Union Home Minister, Manipur governor, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Manipur Chief Secretary, Prasant Kumar Singh, Manipur security Advisor, and also Manipur police chief for their reckless administration in the Manipur issue, especially handling the journalist matters".