Protests forces Manipur Gov to take chopper

Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla was on Monday took a chopper to reach Raj Bhavan from Imphal airport to avoid facing a massive protest while taking the surface route to reach his official residence.
The Governor who was at the national capital on an official engagement since May 21 amid escalating agitations over the recent incident of outraging Manipur’s identity involving the Central security forces, returned to Imphal today.
However, he was compelled to avoid the six kilometer stretch of the road from Imphal airport to Raj Bhavan to avoid facing a massive human chain protest along the stretch of the road.
He took an army chopper to land at a nearest helipad located inside the historic Kangla Fort which is around 300 metres from the Raj Bhavan in view of the protests.
The sudden arrangement caused a huge traffic chaos as all the roads in the periphery of the Raj Bhavan located in the heart of the capital city had to be blocked from all kinds of traffic while the Governor was heading to Raj Bhavan from the Kangla helipad.
The outnumbered police and the Central security forces personnel, including Rapid Action Force (RAP), erected temporary barricades on all roads leading to the Raj Bhavan only to be reopened after the Governor entered his official residence without any problem.
Hundreds of people, including students, womenfolk with placards displaying COCOMI’s demands formed a human chain on the stretch of the road from airport gate to Keishampat Junction, anticipating the Governor taking the route.
Members of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) also participated in the protest with placards that read, “Governor must tender apology to the people of Manipur”, “Apology to Manipur or leave Manipur”, etc.
The COCOMI has been spearheading various forms of agitations seeking a public apology from the Governor with regard to recent incident of forcing to erase the word “Manipur” from a bus of Manipur State Transport (MST) ferrying a team of media person to cover opening function of recently concluded Manipur Shirui Lily festival in Ukhrul district.
The apex body alleged that the action of the security forces undermined the identity of the state and amounted to insulting the people of the state and demanded that the Governor must tender a public apology for the outrageous action of the Central forces.
It also demanded resignation or transfer of security advisor to Manipur government, chief secretary and DGP while fixing them the responsibility for the action.
The Governor ‘s decision to avoiding facing the protesters by choosing to take a chopper to reach Raj Bhavan added fuel to the fire as the protesters burnt theeffigy of the Governor while expressing their strong disappointment and anger. A scuffle broke out when the security forces intervened to foil the protesters from torching the effigy of Governor.
They alleged that the Governor has missed an opportunity to engage himself with the people and his attitude showed that he has committed a big mistake on the people of the state.
“The Governor not being able to travel by road and meet the people clearly shows that he has made a mistake. We will not stop our protests now,” COCOMI Women Wing convener RK Tharaksana lamented.
She said that they (the protesters) have no intention of indulging in violence against the Governor. “We wanted only to raise our voices through democratic means.”
The tensions escalated in the Kwakeithel area where one of the protesters attempted to tie himself with a police rope used for crowd control. Police intervened and safely rescued him.
He was among the protesters who were foiled by the security forces from taking a march towards the Raj Bhavan. The security forces stopped protesters using crowd control measures including firing tear gas shells and mock bombs to disperse the crowds.