Imphal witnesses unusual Sunday

Imphal, July 20: Though it is a Sunday today, an off day for various establishments both the Government and the non-governmental, it has been witnessed that maximum number of people had thronged the market areas to do their daily marketings.

This was so because, after several days of bandhs and agitations in one form or the other, today was not just another Sunday.

A respite for the denizens of Imphal, the prolonged bandh of 72 hours has just ended last night called by a student organisation.

Unusually, the roads leading to the main Imphal market were too busy today, though being a Sunday, the traffic police had tough tasks doing their job.

The busy markets in Imphal remind of an eve of any major festival.

Meanwhile, in Manipur this July is predominantly a month of agitations both in the hills and the valley districts.

The Democratic Students' Alliance of Manipur (DESAM)'s sponsored 72-hour Manipur bandh just ended last midnight demanding the release of the student leaders detained under National Security Act (NSA) in connection with the murder of a Manipur University scholar while the All Tribal Students' Union, Manipur (ATSUM) indefinite economic blockade is still going over the reservation issue.

The Indigenous Democratic Front (IDF) had also called a 12-hour hill districts bandh on Friday demanding the holding of elections to the Autonomous District Council (ADC) in the five hill districts of Churachandpur, Chandel, Ukhrul, Senapati and Tamenglong.

From Monday onwards, the Naga frontal organisations' sponsored 48-hour bandh begins in protest against the Manipur cabinet decision of deploying Manipur police commandos and Indian Reserve Batallion (IRB) in the five hill districts of Manipur.

The United Naga Council (UNC), the All Naga Students' Association, Manipur (ANSAM), Naga Women Union, Manipur (NWUM), Naga Peoples' Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) sponsored by various Naga tribe based group have announced to call the 48-hour bandh starting from 5 am of Monday (July 20) .

Indigenous Democratic Front (IDF) and ATSUM have pledged to intensify their agitations in the end of July while DESAM has threatened to take up drastic form of protest any time if the Government fails to address their respective demands.