Manipur: Militant groups to boycott PM Modi’s visit, calls for total shutdown on April 7

PM Modi and Amit Shah will be campaigning in Manipur for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the PM will address an election rally on April 7 while Amit Shah will address the public on April 5.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) and BJP party chief Amit Shah in New Delhi. (Express Photo By Amit Mehra/File)

The Coordinating Committee, a conglomerate of major militant outfits of Manipur, has imposed a 17-hour shutdown in the state on April 7 to boycott Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit.

BJP’s star campaigner, Modi and BJP party president Amit Shah, will arrive in Manipur to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. The PM will address an election rally in Imphal’s Hapta Kangjeibung on April 7 while Amit Shah will address the public in Thoubal district on April 5.

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Even as the BJP is preparing to welcome its star campaigners, the total shutdown will come into force from 1 am to 6 pm on April 7.

The militant group in a statement has appealed to the people to effectively observe the shutdown during the PM’s visit to the state.

It said that ever since Manipur was annexed into the Indian Union on October 15, 1949, the people of the region have been subjected to various forms of oppressive policies under the “colonial rule” of India.

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Ranging from the gross violation of human rights under the guise of AFSPA to annihilation policies of the indigenous people, the people continue to reel under oppression for the last 70 years, it said.

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As such, the Prime Minister of India deserves no grand reception from the oppressed lot of the region, who will be coming to seek votes in the name of development, the statement added.

It urged the people to hoist black flags and also close down business establishment during the total shutdown, as a sign of protest against Modi’s visit.

Manipur has two parliamentary seats and will go to polls in two phases. The election for the Outer Manipur parliamentary seat will be held during the first phase on April 11 and Inner Manipur seat on April 18 in the second phase.