Imphal: Boycotting the celebration of 73rd Republic Day of India in Manipur, Co-ordination Committee (CorCom), a conglomerate of major rebel groups in the state, has announced to impose an 18-hour “total” shut-down on January 26.
The total shutdown, which will begin from the intervening night of January 25 and 26 which will last till 6 pm of January 26, the underground conglomerate said in a press statement on Friday.
Essential services like media, electricity, water supply, medical and those related with religious purposes would be exempted from the purview of the “total” shutdown, it added.
The CorCom then called upon the people to support the boycott call of the Republic Day to show “unity of the people against the colonel rule”.
Also read: CorCom’s total shutdown to boycott PM Modi’s visit ends peacefully, Hill districts remains unaffected
It claimed that Manipur was forcibly merged to India. “Since the merger, Republic Day was being celebrated in Manipur forcibly. In the state, it is not a Republic Day celebration but Colonel Day”, the CorCOM alleged.
“There is no reason for the people of the region to participate in the celebration,” it added.
The statement then said that the recent killing of civilians by 21 Para Special Forces at Oting in Nagaland was nothing but a part of India’s policy to rule the WESEA region by triggering fears in the minds of the people.
NNN