Bandh supporters of Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee (SHDDC) set ablaze the sub-treasury office at Kangpokpi on Monday, August 8. (NNN Photo)
Imphal | August 8 : A second round of talks today between the government of Manipur and Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee (SHDDC) to hammer out an armistice to the over one week long impasse following the demand for the declaration of a full fledged Sadar Hills district that began on August 1 has failed to produce any positive result. With the limbo continuing, the demand committee has said that the general strike will persist across the contiguous Sadar Hills. Meanwhile, a vehicle coming from Dimapur has been torched by strike supporters today in Kangpokpi on National Highway 39.
Talking to the media after the talks which were held at the chief minister’s bungalow near here, Paokai Haokip, former Member of Parliament (MP) and SHDDC mediator in the present deadlock, said that representatives of the demand committee laid down on the table a strong case for prompt declaration of Sadar Hills district and gave the government an August 15 deadline.
While SHDDC was represented by former MP Paokai Haokip, Thangjang Misao, Hemang Singsit and Jampu Kipgen, the government was led by chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and also had Thangminlen Kipgen, Hill Area Committee (HAC) chairman and MLA Haokholet Kipgen.
SHDDC has been demanding the declaration of Sadar Hills district for nearly four decades. It should be declared without any further delay, Mr Haokip said after emerging from the meeting today, and added that the chief minister himself admitted that the demand for a full fledged district is a genuine demand and ought to be declared.
To a question from the press asking him if the chief minister sought for the withdrawal of the general strike, the former MP answered in the affirmative and said that the civil society representatives made it very clear that such a step to withdraw the agitation should be preceded by a successful and concrete agreement to its demand.
Following the second round of talks ending inconclusively today, SHDDC general secretary Tonghen Kipgen said that the agitation would be stepped up in the coming days. Meanwhile, a Tata Sumo jeep bearing registration number AS 01 B-1020 which was coming from Dimapur on National Highway 39 was torched by strike supporters at Kangpokpi today.
A sit-in protest was also staged at Leimakhong bazaar by hundreds of villagers drawn from twenty villages in and around the area in support for the demand for the declaration of a full fledged Sadar Hills district.