Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Credit: PTI Photo
Imphal: Unidentified miscreants on Thursday evening burnt some barricades and posters put up to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district in Manipur on Saturday.
Sources in a Kuki organisation told DH that the incident took place at around 8 pm, when several unidentified persons with bamboo poles in their hands broke the barricades and set fire to the posters put up near the helipad at Peasunmun village, where Modi is scheduled to land on Saturday afternoon. The helipad is about 5 km from the Peace Ground, where the Prime Minister is scheduled to address a public meeting on Saturday.
Videos shared on social media showed many among the crowd shouting slogans against Modi as they dismantled the decorations. Sources said a section of Kukis were angry over the administration's covering of the 'Wall of Remembrance', a memorial put up by the Kuki groups to mourn the Kuki-Zos, who died in the conflict involving the Meiteis since May 2023.
"The situation was brought under control by the police and other security forces," said the source.
The incident took place a day after the Kuki Zo Council welcomed Modi and called it a "rare and historic" visit.
On Wednesday, CorCom, a forum of at least six armed groups in Meitei-dominated Valley issued a "boycott call" against Modi's visit to the strife-torn State.
Modi is visiting the State for the first time since the conflict started in May 2023. He is scheduled to lay the foundation for projects worth Rs 7,300 crore for the five hill districts during the Churachandpur event. He is also scheduled to inaugurate projects worth Rs 1,200 at the meeting inside the historic Kangla Fort in Imphal, about 65 km away.
Nagas withdraw stir
In a positive development ahead of Modi's visit, the United Naga Council (UNC) decided to temporarily suspend its "trade embargo" scheduled from Thursday, following a written assurance from the government to hold talks regarding the scrapping of the Free Movement Regime along the border with Myanmar and the construction of border fencing.