Manipur shutdown disrupts normal life as KCP-Apunba marks merger with India as ‘Black Day’

A 12-hour shutdown called by the proscribed Kangleipak Communist Party-Apunba (KCP-Apunba) to mark October 15 as ‘Black Day’, commemorating Manipur’s merger with India in 1949, disrupted normal life across the state on Thursday.

The shutdown, which started at 6 am, will continue until 6 pm on Thursday, according to a statement issued by the banned underground outfit and signed by its self-styled publicity secretary, Punshirol Meitei.

Markets, including Khwairamband Ima market (women’s market), and educational institutions remained closed, public transport services were suspended and government offices saw low attendance, according to locals.

“Very few employees turned up in offices including administrative offices of Manipur secretariate, but due to fear from any action taken from the government authorities some of them came early in civil dresses and signed for daily attendance,” a government employee, requesting anonymity, told HT.

A resident of Mayang Imphal who sells vegetables at Khwairamband market told HT, “I opened my stall around 4 am and some commuters came early morning to buy things but at around 5.30 am most of the vendors shut down their business by their own. I too have to return my village but waiting for a public transport so that I can go back, all the passenger service has already suspended I don’t know how to manage.”

A statement issued by the banned outfit said that India had taken away Manipur’s sovereignty despite its more than 2,000-year written history. It said the so-called merger agreement was signed forcibly on September 21, 1949, and came into effect on October 15, 1949.

The agreement not only ended Manipur’s sovereign status but also made the entire population of the state slaves under the Indian administration, the KCP-Apunba said, calling upon people to strive to regain Manipur’s lost sovereignty.

The parent body, Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), was founded on April 14, 1980, under the leadership of Y Ibohanbi. KCP-Apunba is a splinter group of the outfit that operates mainly in the valley districts of Manipur and aims to regain the state’s sovereignty from India.