Stir against ‘Manipur’ being erased from bus turns violent | India News

IMPHAL: Five protesters had been hospitalised Sunday after struggling with safety forces close to Raj Bhavan in Imphal as the general public agitation demanding an apology from governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla over “Manipur” being scraped off the windshield of a state transport company bus on May 20 lapsed into violent unrest.Police fired tear gasoline to disperse protesters converging on the historic Kangla Gate, round 150 metres from the Raj Bhavan gates, after they refused to retreat.The influential Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), which spearheaded the protest, had given the governor 48 hours to publicly apologise for what it mentioned was an insult to the state and its individuals.“The governor continues to disregard the sentiments of the people by his silence. He and his administration have tarnished the state’s historical and cultural legacy… The inquiry commission set up by the govt to probe what happened (at Gwaltabi) is not enough as it does not mention anything about penalising those who were involved,” a protester mentioned.A Manipur state transport bus ferrying journalists to Shirui Lily Festival in Ukhrul district was allegedly stopped at Gwaltabi checkpoint and ordered to take away “Manipur” from the windshield.Amid outrage, the house division arrange a two-member inquiry committee to “examine facts and circumstances involving security personnel and the Manipur state transport bus”.A COCOMI delegation is scheduled to journey to New Delhi to satisfy MHA officers on Tuesday to push for completion of “pending political and security processes” necessitated by the ethnic disaster.COCOMI condemned the usage of “mock bombs and tear gas on non-violent protesters, particularly women, during Sunday’s demonstration”. It mentioned, “The deployment of such aggressive crowd-control measures against unarmed civilians, many of whom were mothers and elderly women, is unbecoming of a democratic and sensitive administration.”