Manipur Sangai Festival 2025: Hectic preparations continue amid boycott calls
Imphal: Ahead of the Manipur bandh called by an insurgent group to protest the proposed holding of the Sangai Festival, central security forces and the Manipur Police bomb squad, along with sniffer dogs, conducted standard security checks in Imphal on Tuesday.
Law enforcement agencies intensified security as part of their comprehensive anti-sabotage and vigilance efforts amid hectic preparations for the 12th edition of the Manipur Sangai Festival 2025, which is in full swing at two main venues in Imphal. They are implementing layers of stringent security measures in response to escalating boycott calls from civil society groups and displaced communities.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) convenor Khuraijam Athoubal appealed to the people not to take part in the festival, asserting that it is inappropriate for the government to organise the event when Manipur continues to grapple with an unresolved crisis for over two and a half years.
He also urged the government to utilise the festival funds for the development of people taking shelter at various relief camps across the state. Notably, the government has reportedly sanctioned Rs 15 crore for the successful organisation of the Sangai Festival 2025.
Moreover, the proscribed Kangleipak Communist Party–Military Council (Progressive) has called a 24-hour general strike in Manipur on November 19 (Wednesday) to protest the proposed festival.
KCP-MC (Progressive) Information and Publicity Secretary Maikhumba Meitei, in a statement, said that the outfit is boycotting the festival and warned that if the President’s administration does not allow free movement for the Meiteis on the national highways by December 3, 2025, it will impose a month-long bandh in the state.
The outfit added that essential and emergency services, including media, medical care, hospitals, water supply, fire services, and religious ceremonies, will be exempt from the bandh.
The tourism event is scheduled to take place at Hapta Kangjeibung and the Bheigyachandra Open Air Theatre in Imphal from November 21 to November 30.
Construction of numerous temporary stalls, stages, and the Sangai Theme Park at Hapta Kangjeibung is almost complete. Authorities have deployed a significant number of security personnel at key locations across the venue.
Several organisations associated with internally displaced persons (IDPs), including the Churachandpur Meitei United Committee, the Committee on Protection of Meitei Victims, Moreh (COPMeV), and other civil society organisations, are opposing the festival.
Several civil society organisations, including COCOMI, PANDM, IPSA, ACOAM-Lup, IPAK, KSA, ERDO, Kangla Mei, KIL, CLK, SWA, LOYALUP, MIKAL, AKSIL, and ANDOK, have extended support to the boycott call.
The tourism event marks its return after a two-year hiatus due to the ethnic violence that erupted on May 3, 2023, claiming over 260 lives and displacing more than 60,000 people.