A coalition of six outlawed underground outfits, the Coordination Committee, has declared a statewide twelve-hour shutdown across Manipur on October 15. The general strike is scheduled to run from 6 am to 6 pm as a protest against the historical incorporation of the region into the Indian Union in 1949. Media Coordinator M. Shak-Hen issued a formal communication designating the date as a National Black Day and appealing to local residents to observe the collective work stoppage.
The Six-Group Coalition and Their Historical Grievance
The collective comprises the Kangleipak Communist Party, Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup, People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak, PREPAK-Pro, Revolutionary People’s Front, and the United National Liberation Front. Representatives of the umbrella body maintain that Maharaja Bodhachandra was escorted to Shillong by Indian forces on September 21, 1949. According to the coalition, he was subsequently coerced into signing the accession document at Redlands, his residential property located within Shillong, rather than making a voluntary political choice.
The group contends that the resulting merger bypassed prevailing international legal standards and ignored the regional constitutional mechanisms functioning in Manipur during that era. Consequently, the coalition has consistently marked October 15 each year to record its opposition against what it terms an erosion of traditional political rights and sovereign authority. The outfit has maintained that this historical dispute warrants scrutiny under existing United Nations frameworks and broader international legal conventions.
Demolition Concerns Surrounding Shillong Residence
The coalition also highlighted the recent demolition of the remaining physical structures at the historic Redlands site, which occurred between October 8 and 9, 2025. Group representatives alleged that tearing down the compound was an intentional effort to eliminate material evidence tied to the 1949 signing. They reiterated their position that the original agreement was executed under duress rather than through open, democratic consultation.
Parallel Strike Announcement and Key Public Exemptions
In a related development, another underground organisation, the Socialist Revolutionary Party, declared its own separate twelve-hour strike on October 15, slated from 5 am to 5 pm. Despite the planned disruptions across public transit and commercial activity, both groups stated that emergency and sensitive public operations will not be targeted. Exemptions have been granted for hospital treatments, bereavement and funeral ceremonies, working journalists and media teams, and ongoing religious observances.
