General strike cripples life in Manipur

IMPHAL: A 12-hour general strike, called by a local committee, today crippled normal life in Manipur with markets, educational institutions closed and vehicular traffic remaining off the roads in nine districts of the state, official reports said.

Transport services within Manipur and its neighbouring states were suspended in response to the strike called by the Committee on Protection of Land in Border Fencing ( CPLBF) in protest of wooden fencing at 'undemarcated' areas along the Indo-Myanmar border in Chandel district, they said.

Police and para-military forces have been deployed to prevent any untoward incidents during the strike, which was supported by several NGOs and social organisations.

Sources said if the erection of wooden fencing at the "undemarcated areas" was not stopped, around 43 villages with more than 18,000 inhabitants in the three districts of Chandel, Churachandpur and Ukhrul would fall within the territory of the neighbouring country.

Incidentally, the state government had written to the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to re-survey some areas along Indo-Myanmar border in the Chandel district following the allegation.