KCP calls for 'public curfew' on Independence Day in Manipur

IMPHAL: Militant outfit Kangleipak Communist Party on Tuesday called for a 12-hour "public curfew" from 6 am on August 15 as part of its boycott call of the Independence Day celebrations.

Fire services, media, water supply, religious functions and electricity would be exempted from the purview of the "public curfew", the outfit's Publicity Secretary Paikhomba Meitei said in a statement.

Kuki State Demand Committee (KSDC), which has called for a 48-hour bandh at Kuki-settled hill areas from midnight tonight, also asked the Kukis to boycott the I-Day celebrations.

A KSDC spokesman said the committee would launch a series of agitations until their demand for a 'Kukiland' to be carved out of Manipur was met.

Earlier, major insurgent organisations including United National Liberation Front, Revolutionary People's Front and Kanglei Yawol Kann Lup have called for a boycott of the the I-Day celebrations.