A pause in Meitei protests Wednesday after the BJP-led govt's assurance of "a comprehensive crackdown" on Kuki militant groups in Manipur's hill districts within a week proved short-lived as multiple organisations in Imphal valley declared their agitation would continue until they saw results on the ground. The uproar came amid an indefinite curfew in Imphal East, Imphal West and Kakching and the administration's decision to extend the mobile internet blackout across seven districts for three more days. Curfew had been eased for five hours from 5am.
In the evening, the state govt announced that schools in all valley districts would be shut till Nov 23. Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) had announced suspension of its indefinite sit-in at Ima Market in the heart of Imphal for a week by citing N Biren Singh govt's assurances on its demands, but was apparently forced to back-track by Meitei protest groups unwilling to take the administration's word for it. This came a day after COCOMI rejected an eight-point NDA resolution adopted by 27 MLAs Monday night to go all out against the Kuki militants suspected of killing six Meitei inmates - three women and as many children - of a shelter for the displaced in Jiribam.
The organisation gave the state govt 24 hours to announce operations against all Kuki militant outfits bound by the tripartite Suspension of Operations agreement, holding them accountable for over 18 months of ethnic bloodletting. "We will observe how .
