GUWAHATI: Amid stepped up protests, Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla was forced to travel a distance of barely 7 km in a chopper to go to Raj Bhavan from the Imphal airport on Monday.
After the governor had landed in Imphal from Delhi where he attended the Rising Northeast Investors Summit, an army chopper took him to the historic Kangla Fort. He travelled a distance of 300 metres to the Raj Bhavan by road amid heightened security.
Hundreds of protestors had formed a human chain on the airport road – from the airport’s departure gate to the Keishampat Junction. They held placards with messages such as “Manipur’s identity is non-negotiable.”
Meitei organisation Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) had on Sunday announced mass protests, rallies, torch processions, and sit-ins against the alleged instruction by security personnel to conceal the words “Manipur State Transport” displayed on a state-run bus in which a media team was travelling to Ukhrul recently to cover the Shirui Lily festival.
The state government has already ordered a probe into the incident but COCOMI has stuck to its guns. It demanded an apology from the governor and resignation of Chief Secretary PK Singh, Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh and Director General of Police Rajiv Singh, holding them responsible for the incident which “undermined the identity of Manipur, its name, pride and respect.”
“The refusal of the governor and the President's rule administration to acknowledge and apologise for this deep insult to the state’s identity confirms their disconnect from the ground reality and their disdain for the sentiments of the people,” COCOMI had stated in a statement.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has invited the organisation to attend a meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday in connection with the resolutions adopted during the Manipur People’s Convention held in Imphal on May 3 on the second anniversary of the ethnic conflict. COCOMI said it would raise the matter involving the bus at the meeting.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote it on X. “President’s Rule appears to have made no difference whatsoever in Manipur. Today, the Governor had to take a helicopter from the airport in Imphal to Kangla Fort in order to reach his residence. Meanwhile, the PM is busy giving filmi dialogues in different parts of the country and politicising Operation Sindoor while continuing to ignore Manipur. The Union Home Minister has failed most miserably and should resign for his total failure to bring a semblance of normalcy in Manipur, which he has been managing.”