SENAPATI, December 24: The United Naga Council (UNC) has called for a 72 hours bandh in all “Naga areas” starting from the midnight of December 26 saying that the call was being made to register their protest against “communal attacks”.
It said that with the suspension of the indefinite bandh by the Film Forum Manipur and Manipur State Shumang Leela Council with effect from the midnight of December 23, tribals heading for their respective villages for Christmas on December 24 from outside the state and from Imphal valley with state police escorts were attacked, their belongings seized and destroyed and physically assaulted.
The statement further pointed out that there were unbridgeable differences between the Tribals in Manipur and the Meiteis – historically, culturally, socially and even in religion, which has now been brought out in greater clarity and said that the 72 hours bandh will be observed in Naga areas with effect from the midnight of December 26 to the midnight of December 29. All Manipuri video and music CDs/cassettes, dramas and leelas will also be banned in Naga areas with immediate effect, it said.