Ukhrul: Tangkhul Naga Long skips Saturday rally, calls own protest Nov 5

The Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL), the apex body of the Tangkhul Naga community, did not hold a rally in Ukhrul on Saturday alongside the statewide protests backed by the United Naga Council (UNC), and has instead called a separate "People's Rally" in Ukhrul on 5 November, Hub News reported.

In an urgent notification signed by its secretary, Thanreingam Muivah, the TNL said "compelling circumstances" had made it unable to organise a demonstration at the Ukhrul district headquarters at the same time as the 31 October rallies. It did not spell out what those circumstances were.

'Not a withdrawal'

The TNL said putting off its demonstration did not mean it was withdrawing from the common cause. The 5 November rally will carry the same charter of demands endorsed for the statewide mobilisation, it said.

Those demands, as listed by the organisers, are:

• an end to what they describe as a "proxy war" in Manipur
• abrogation of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with Kuki militant groups
• withdrawal of Assam Rifles from the state
• full rehabilitation and resettlement of people displaced by the conflict

Saturday's rallies

On Saturday thousands of people marched in Imphal in a rally called by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), with the backing of Naga civil society groups including the UNC. Police stopped the procession at Keisampat. Parallel rallies were held in Senapati and Chandel, where groups submitted memoranda addressed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The joint Meitei-Naga mobilisation is unusual in Manipur's recent politics and follows a series of attacks that the groups blame on Kuki militants. Kuki-Zo groups have held their own protests this week, including a 48-hour shutdown in Kangpokpi district over two youths who went missing on 28 October.

The demands are those of the organisations. The state government, the Centre and Assam Rifles had not responded publicly to them by Saturday afternoon.

Ukhrul is the main district of the Tangkhul Nagas, one of the largest Naga tribes in Manipur. The TNL has not said where in Ukhrul town the 5 November rally will be held or what time it will start.