KCP prohibits bandhs, suggests constructive protests
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, June 10 2025: Politburo Standing Committee of the armed Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) has announced a permanent ban on bandh and called for constructive alternative means of protest to safeguard livelihoods and education in Kangleipak (Manipur) .

According to a KCP statement issued by Politburo Standing Committee of KCP chairman Ibungo Ngangom on Tuesday, Kangleipak (Manipur) is being literally reduced to 'Bandhleipak', thanks to the increasing frequency of bandhs choking its spirit and stalling progress.

The deafening silence of CSOs and intellectual circles on the deeply regressive and socially injurious nature of bandhs has long been a cause of concern.

"It is disheartening that no collective moral courage has yet emerged to question, critique or condemn the frequent resort to such disruptive forms of protests," it said, adding that after careful deliberation and in full consensus, the party resolved to outrightly oppose the culture of bandhs and confront those perpetuating disruptive forms of protests.

Despite its proud civilisational legacy spanning over two millennia, Kangleipak (Manipur) continues to be plagued by poverty, the statement noted, citing the latest Multidimensional Poverty Index which indicates that 17.8 percent of the people of Kangleipak (Manipur) live in deprivation.

"Extrapolated from the 2011 census, this translates to nearly 6.5 lakh individuals today.

The stark and uncomfortable question is: What do bandhs mean for those who survive from hand to mouth.

The answer is not just inconvenient but heart-breaking," the KCP statement said.

Briefly examining the impact of bandhs on three extra-sensitive socioeconomic segments, the KCP said rickshaw drivers (cycle, auto and e rickshaw operators) survive on daily earnings.

A bandh paralyses their income stream instantly.

The same is also true for women vendors as bandhs destroy whatever they have before being sold, while those who attempt to sell despite partial bandhs face harassment from both enforcers and authorities.

Another section of people severely affected by bandhs are daily wage earners particularly, construction worker, porters and helpers.

A single bandh can deprive their families of meals and essential expenditures.

Bandhs also stall construction timelines, sometimes resulting in the dismissal or relocation of labour.

Education also stands as one of the worst casualties of frequent bandhs in Kangleipak (Manipur).

These repeated disruptions inflict long-term damage on the academic ecosystem, particularly for students from marginalised and rural backgrounds.

Unscheduled closures of schools, colleges and universities derail academic calendars, compress syllabi and encourage superficial learning, the organisation reasoned.

While students from remote areas face additional hurdles due to transportation uncertainties and limited digital access, even those in urban centre grapple with postponed exams, travel-related safety concerns and mounting academic stress.

Educators and staff often stay away out of fear, further eroding attendance and disrupting instructional continuity.

"Over time, this instability breeds disillusionment, increases dropout rates especially among girl students and widens the educational divide between economically privileged and disadvantaged students, many of whom are forced to shift to private or out-of-state institutions" .

The cumulative effect is a weakening of public trust in education as a viable path to upward mobility, leading to brain drain, academic stagnation and deepening regional disparities, the KCP statement cautioned.

According to the KCP, the recurring bandhs in the Imphal valley starkly illustrate how political confrontation particularly between the state and various CSOs routinely sacrifices the future of youth, entrenching a vicious cycle of insecurity and underdevelopment.

"If the people are to effectively challenge the government of the day for anything compromising or actually hurting the interests of the people, it is imperative for the people to think beyond clearly counterproductive and self-harming protest tools like bandhs and blockades, " the statement noted, while also calling upon the people to raise generations of highly educated youth who possess the intellectual tools, critical thinking skills and civic consciousness necessary to question the authority, demand accountability and propose constructive alternatives.

While asserting that education empowers individuals to understand the deeper socio-economic and political forces shaping their lives and equips them with the confidence to engage in public discourse, legal challenges, policy critique and organised democratic action, the KCP statement maintained that without a largely well-informed and educated population, especially the youth, resistance to state excesses becomes fragmented, reactionary and easily suppressed.

It continued that a society that invests in quality education produces individuals who can unite across class, caste, community and regional lines to build sustainable movements grounded in knowledge, justice and vision thereby transforming protest from mere outrage into enduring reform.

Despite being the majority community in Kangleipak (Manipur) and enjoying relatively good urban development and political representation, the Meiteis have, over the years, fallen behind other communities particularly the Scheduled Trjbes from the hill regions in attaining top positions within the administrative and bureaucratic apparatus of the present-day system.

"This imbalance has arguably served as one of the key motivations for vested interests within the Kuki-Zo community to intensify their demand for a separate administration, variously named Kukiland or Zalengam, carved out of Kangleipak," it said adding that a significant factor behind this disparity is the Meitei community's exclusion from the reservation benefits accorded to STs, compounded by a steadily deteriorating public education system, ongoing socio-political unrest and a noticeable decline in academic competitiveness.

The situation is further exacerbated by frequent disruptions such as bandhs, the absence of a robust mentoring ecosystem and lack of sustained governmental support for civil service preparation, alerted the KCP.

To reverse this trajectory, the Meiteis must prioritise educational reform by establishing a well-supported network' of preparatory institutions, scholarship programmes and mentorship initiatives, it suggested.

Simultaneously, the community must advocate for policy interventions that promote merit-based advancement without deepening existing social fissures.

Revitalising a culture of academic rigour and public service among Meitei youth through community-driven efforts and the development of educational infrastructure is essential to achieve stronger representation in the upper echelons of governance.

This is not merely a question of empowerment but a strategic imperative to counter anti-Kangleipak (Manipur) agendas whether in the form of historical fabrication of the so-called Anglo-Kuki War, the deliberate vilification of the Meitei community in Indian and international media or the evident bias of most central security forces in favour of the Kuki-Zo community during the ongoing Kuki-Meitei conflict, the organisation further noted.

On the impact of bandhs on healthcare services, the KCP statement continued that it is often claimed that healthcare sector is completely exempted from the ambit of bandhs.

But in reality this exemption often means nothing on the ground as healthcare workers - doctors, nurses and paramedics often find it difficult Or unsafe to travel to hospitals and clinics due to road blockades, threats of violence or the absence of public and private transportation.

Ambulances, despite their emergency status, may be stopped or delayed, especially in areas where bandh enforcers are active and aggressive.

Pharmacies may shut due to fear of vandalism or lack of supplies, further disrupting the availability of essential medicines.

"Thus, the operational immunity of the healthcare sector becomes largely symbolic as the systemic paralysis induced by bandhs seeps into every layer of service delivery, turning an essential and supposedly protected domain into yet another casualty of bandhs".

Another pressing concern is the rise of crisis capitalism in Kangleipak (Manipur), a phenomenon in which recurring socio-political instability, particularly in the form of bandhs and blockades, is exploited by large business interests predominantly controlled by non-local actors, especially Marwari and Bihari networks.

These entities strategically capitalise on the disruptions to manipulate market dynamics, inflate prices and extract disproportionate profits, all the while tightening their grip on the local economy.

This not only deepens economic depen dency but also poses a direct threat to indigenous economic sovereignty.

During the last 48-hour bandh, some bandh enforcers reportedly ransacked a meat hotel and vandalised some vehicles, not to mention other numerous cases of harassment, while business was going on as usual in all hill districts.

In reality, the repeated call for bandhs signals not a resurgence of community strength but rather a failure of political imagination and strategic vision.

Then came the 10-day bandh in the wake of the arrest of some Arambai Tenggol members.

Consequently, the people of Kangleipak (Manipur) started going through yet another round of roadblocks and vandalism.

Even a vehicle belonging to a media agency was not spared.

But the sudden termination of the 10-day bandh on June 10, 2025 was definitely a commendable course correction on the part of the Arambai Tenggol, KCP maintained.

It also contended that on closer examination, most, if not all, top leaders of bandh-calling civil society organisations in Kangleipak (Manipur) turned out to typically belong to economically secure and well-connected backgrounds.

Their livelihoods are not tied to daily wages; their children are mostly enrolled in elite educational institutions often outside Kangleipak (Manipur) and their medical needs are met through private healthcare or specialised treatment, often going to metropolitan-cities for the same, the organisation asserted.

While they justify bandhs, it is the daily-wage earners, street vendors, schoolchildren, patients, local teashop owners and transport workers who bear the full brunt of the disruptions.

The bandhs scarcely affect the lives of those who call for them, yet they exact a heavy toll on the very people these leaders claim to represent.

To ground party's stance in people's voice, a survey was conducted recently using both digital (Google) and physical questionnaires, covering 1,000 individuals across different sections of the society.

The outcome was that 100 percent of respondents opposed the bandh as a form of protest.

The verdict from the ground made it clear that the masses are not with the bandh merchants, the statement observed.

In light of the foregoing facts and prevailing circumstances, the Politburo Standing Committee of the Kangleipak Communist Party put a permanent and unequivocal ban on calling bandhs in Kangleipak (Manipur) with immediate effect and called upon all CSOs to embrace alternative protest methods that do not jeopardise the livelihoods of poor workers or disrupt education.

The committee also appealed for unity among all CSOs and urged them to stand not in fragmentation but in solidarity upholding the true spirit of collective struggle and the enduring ideals of social justice, empowerment and progress.

Comment