Protesters blocked a major highway and damaged a vehicle during a 24-hour shutdown in Manipur’s Churachandpur district to demand support for the new government in the ethnic violence-hit state by three cookie-jo MLAs. The support sparked violent protests in the region on Thursday.
Cookie Joe Council has called for closure. (source)The Kuki Jo Council, an apex body of the Kuki-Jo community, supported a shutdown and announced a social boycott of three people, including Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen, to defy the government’s decision not to accede to the demands of a separate administration.
Protesters blocked the highway connecting Mizoram’s Aizawl to capital Imphal via Churachandpur. Businesses and educational institutions were closed and vehicular movement was restricted to essential and essential services.
Security was beefed up at the residences of Kipgen and two other lawmakers who support the government, Laliang Mang Khaute and Sanate in Nursanglu. The Kuki Women’s Organization for Human Rights planned a rally, even as security forces were on high alert
The Kuki Students Organization accused the three parliamentarians of betraying the Kuki-Jo community. It praised the community’s remaining seven lawmakers, who refused to join the new government.
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10 Kuki-jo MLAs have been demanding a separate administration in the form of a union territory since communal violence erupted in Manipur in May 2023 and left around 260 people dead and 60,000 displaced.
Former Speaker Yumnam Khemchand Singh, who belongs to the dominant Meiti community, was sworn in as the chief minister of Manipur in 2025 on Wednesday, a year after President’s rule was imposed in the state amid communal violence. Kipgen was among Kuki-jo and his two deputy chief ministers from the Naga community, who were sworn in hours before the President lifted the rule.
Ethnic clashes began between the Meitei and tribal Kuki communities before involving almost every community and creating ethnic enclaves and the virtual division of the state. The Meitis live mainly in the plains of the Imphal Valley and the Kukis in the hills. After the outbreak of violence, they retreated to their respective forts.
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Biren Singh resigned as chief minister last year, a week before President’s rule was imposed amid growing internal strife and the threat of a no-confidence motion. Reports suggested that up to 10 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs were ready to cross party lines. After communal clashes erupted, BJP kooky-joe lawmakers broke ties with Singh and demanded his resignation.
There have been no fresh incidents of violence since January 5, even as hundreds of thousands of people continue to live in relief camps.
