Pause in Manipur blockade

Naga organisations of Manipur temporarily lifted their more than 69-day economic blockade Friday afternoon.

Naga organisations of Manipur temporarily lifted their more than 69-day economic blockade Friday afternoon.

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The blockade started on April 11.

The decision came four days after their counterparts in adjoining Nagaland ended their siege on an arterial highway linking Manipur capital Imphal with the rest of the country.

“We have decided that the present economic blockade, being enforced by the All Naga Students Association Manipur (ANSAM) stands suspended temporarily from 4 pm of June 18,” said a statement emailed by a joint committee of the Naga organisations of Manipur and Nagaland. The decision, taken in Nagaland capital Kohima, coincided with the arrival of five companies of Central paramilitary forces in Manipur’s Senapati district.

A 60-km stretch of National Highway 39 in Senapati district was cut off following the imposition of the economic blockade.

The lifting of the blockade, however, was not enough to make Manipur truckers resume operations on NH39.

They have refused to do so unless the losses they incurred during the blockade are compensated and the government cracked down on “illegal tax” collectors.

“But we will carry on with our agitation, in different forms and at different levels till the demands and aspirations of the Naga people are fulfilled,” said ANSAM chief Yhobu Adani David.