3 min readImphalApr 25, 2026 10:54 PM IST
Protesters clashed with security forces in multiple locations in Manipur’s Imphal on Saturday during a mass rally organised by a valley-based civil society organisation, the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI).
Saturday’s rally took place after more than a week of sustained protests across Manipur’s central valley – several of them spiralling into clashes with security personnel – against the killing of two Meitei children in a projectile attack on their home in Bishnupur on April 7.
Saturday’s rally began around 1 pm from eight different locations across Imphal East and Imphal West districts, and was meant to proceed towards the Chief Minister’s Bungalow. However, tensions escalated at multiple points across the city as security personnel attempted to curb protesters’ movement into the high-security zone in Imphal, where the CM’s Bungalow and other key government establishments are located.
Among the places that saw such confrontations – which included stone pelting by protesters and the deployment of tear gas by security forces – are Keishampat, Lamlong, Ima Keithel and Singjamei.
Several protestors are reported to have sustained injuries during the confrontations, though the exact number could not be ascertained. Normal life was affected across Imphal, with markets and commercial establishments shutting down from around 1 pm.
COCOMI had stated that the rally was aimed at “seeking answers” from the state government on key issues, including the recent killings, and a judicial inquiry into the CRPF firing that killed three persons when a mob tried to storm a security camp in the immediate aftermath of the April 7 attack. Their demands also include the resettlement of people displaced by the conflict and the abrogation of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) pact with Kuki-Zomi insurgent groups.
Speaking to the media, COCOMI spokesperson Nahakpam Shanta said, “The organisation is submitting a memorandum to the government raising several demands, including rehabilitation of IDPs (internally displaced persons), judicial inquiry into the CRPF firing, and concrete action against narco-terrorism. Earlier assurances to resettle displaced persons have not been fulfilled and the issue has to be resolved before processes like census or the NRC take place in the state… Multiple memorandums and representations have already been submitted to the government, but no clear action-taken report has been provided so far.”
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“If the government fails to respond within a few days, we may be compelled to intensify democratic agitations,” he said.
Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh also addressed the media on Saturday, saying that “there is no other way to bring peace other than through talks on the negotiating table”.
He stated that the present climate of unrest is affecting daily wage earners and disrupting the academic lives of the children in the state. “The government alone cannot bring peace unless the public and the civil society organisations cooperate. I appeal to all to come to the negotiating table to bring peace and a solution to all issues in the state,” he said.
