Manipur: Bandh to protest against Citizenship Bill paralyses life

While employees did make it to work, classes could not be conducted in government school and colleges as students stayed away. Private educational institutions remained closed.

Protesters came out on the streets, enforcing a road blockade and staging sit-in demonstrations in different parts of Imphal Valley.

All business establishments in Imphal kept shutters down even as public transportation was suspended. To prevent untoward incidents, heavy security was deployed, particularly in Imphal.

The shutdown, which came into effect on Monday midnight, concluded peacefully this evening at 6 pm.

Some government employees complained that while the government had said it would penalise absentees, no arrangements were made to help them reach work.

“While the government issued strict instructions to employees to report to duty, no security measures were provided to them. We had to face a lot of inconvenience in trying to cross roadblocks put up by protestors,” said an Imphal secretariat staffer.

In September, the government had deducted salaries of as many as 223 employees for not coming to work during a bandh called by a militant group in the state.