Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh led a procession comprising some ministerial colleagues and BJP workers on Tuesday as the State’s ruling party held a public rally in defiance of a 15-hour ‘total shutdown’ called by the All Manipur Students Union against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
The procession, which started from the party office and ended at the BOAT complex, was part of the BJP’s effort to spotlight the fact that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had on Monday announced the extension of the Inner Line Permit system to Manipur, obviating the impact of the amended law on the State.
“We have shown in action that the BJP does not make false promises,” Mr. Singh said in a speech at the rally. Observing that some sections were going ahead with obstruction, notwithstanding the fact that the BJP government had done ‘everything possible’ to satisfy the people, he said, “I have ordered arrest of the agitationists”. He also asserted that the BJP was the only party which ‘cared’ for the people.
Recalling that three students had been killed in Manipur in connection with the anti-foreigner movement, he contended that “if the government of those days had taken up suitable actions these three students would not have been killed”.
Meanwhile, normal life was thrown out of gear in the State as a result of the shutdown, with most shops shuttered and commercial vehicles staying off the road. Attendance in the government offices was thin and schools and colleges were closed.
Activists took to the streets and burnt old tyres and formed human chains at several locations to obstruct vehicular movement.
Police said there was, however, no report of any untoward incident in Manipur during the shutdown.
