Imphal rally: Thousands seek Manipur CM's exit, end of SoO truce pact

Thousands of people marched through Imphal on Saturday demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh's government and the scrapping of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with Kuki-Zo militant groups, in a rally organised by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI).

The United Naga Council (UNC), the apex Naga body, endorsed the march, and Naga organisations held parallel rallies in hill district headquarters on the same day, The New Indian Express and Ukhrul Times reported.

Stopped short of Lok Bhavan

The Imphal procession started from Tiddim Ground and was headed for THAU Ground in Imphal West district. Police set up barricades at Keisampat junction, a few hundred metres from Lok Bhavan, the Chief Minister's Office and the BJP state office, and did not let it move further.

Marchers carried placards reading "save Manipur", "we want peace and justice" and "abrogate SoO pact". COCOMI convenor Y Dhiren said the people were seeking the government's resignation for failing to protect the lives and property of indigenous people, and called it a historic rally.

The march came days after militants ambushed 14 Meitei men, killing three of them, an attack that set off protests across the valley.

Naga rallies in Senapati and Chandel

In Senapati, a rally at Traffic Point under the UNC banner, organised by the Naga People's Organisation and the district students' and women's bodies, demanded abrogation of the SoO pact, withdrawal of Assam Rifles from border areas and conflict zones, and the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen, Ukhrul Times reported.

UNC president NG Lorho accused Assam Rifles of acting in a partisan way in Naga areas and alleged that Kuki militants were using the truce to attack Naga villages. He also sought implementation of the 26 September tripartite agreement signed in Guwahati by the Centre, the Manipur government and the UNC, and resettlement of all displaced people. A memorandum addressed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah was submitted through the Senapati Deputy Commissioner. A similar rally was held in Chandel district.

These are allegations made by the organisations; neither the state government nor Assam Rifles had responded to them publicly by Saturday afternoon.

Why the SoO pact is in focus

The SoO agreement was signed in 2008 by the Centre, the Manipur government and Kuki-Zo groups under the Kuki National Organisation and the United People's Front. It requires cadres to stay in designated camps and keep their weapons locked. It lapsed on 4 September without renewal.

Security forces this week took control of a designated camp in Kangpokpi district after finding only one of its 159 registered cadres present, and plan to audit all 14 such camps, according to the PTI-based report. The Manipur Assembly had passed a resolution in February 2024 seeking the pact's abrogation.

Manipur's ethnic conflict, which began in May 2023, has killed at least 306 people, and clashes between Kuki and Naga groups have caused around 50 deaths since February this year.

NEInsider will update this story with any official response to the demands.