UNC imposes 24 hours shutdown in Naga areas of Manipur

The United Naga Council (UNC), the apex Naga bodies, has called a 24-hour shutdown in all Naga areas of Manipur from today midnight till midnight or 15 August, alleging that the state govt has deliberately imposed the condition on village chiefs/headmen/chairmen to collect the Indian National Flag from their concerned SDOs and to hoist and celebrate the 75th India’s Independence Day on August 15, 2021, in their respective villages.

Protests also erupted at Japhou Bazar in Chandel district soon after the district police removed Naga flags, which was placed and raised in various areas in Japhou. Irate over the removal of flags, which was posted about Naga Independence day, the locals set ablaze a makeshift traffic point near Japhou Bazar.

The UNC, in a statement, said, “The Naga people had never opposed the celebration of Indian Independence Day. It is unprecedented that the Government of Manipur and District Administrations resorting to such cheap tactics to further suppress the political aspiration of Naga people and the decades-long struggle for achieving enduring peace in the region.”