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Several organisations in Manipur demanded on Thursday the withdrawal of the ceasefire between the Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah), describing it as a step towards the state's disintegration.
The All-Manipur Students Union, All-Manipur United Clubs Organisation, National Identity Protection Committee and United People's Front have demanded unconditional withdrawal of the agreement while expressing solidarity with and support to the fifty-year-old Naga national movement.
The joint body of these organisations recalled that Manipur was a sovereign country with its own constitution and political boundaries before its merger with the India Union on October 15, 1949.
They described the 16-point agreement between the Centre and the NSCN-IM in 1969 and the current ceasefire agreement as null and void as the people of the state were not consulted.
Meanwhile, police prevented anti-ceasefire agitators from taking out a procession in defiance of prohibitory orders when curfew was relaxed at Jiribam in Imphal East district, official sources said.
The protestors had gathered at the Jiribam sub-divisional headquarters, about 222km west of Imphal, in the early hours of Thursday, but were later dispersed by the police, they said.
Curfew was relaxed for nine hours in Imphal and Greater Imphal areas from 5am, and for four hours in Thoubal, in view of the intensified agitation on Wednesday, the sources said.
Agencies
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