Singnat residents rally, salute 'martyrs'
Source: The Sangai Express / S Singlianmang Guite

CCpur, September 23 2015 : Hundreds of residents from Singngat sub-divisional headquarters today held a peaceful rally against the 'anti-tribal Bills' and joined the chorus in calling for a separate administration for the State tribals.

They also paid homage to the 'martyrs' and made a distinctive donations of fire wood and rice they had collected from households to households.

The rally began at Lanva - a village where they left the vehicles - and briefly halted in front of the district police station, where they shouted slogans against the killing of nine innocent youths and demanded the custody of those personnel responsible for the killing, besides calling for a separate administration.

The rally concluded at the district hospital.

The police personnel posted at the PS this time had equipped themselves with riot gears and stood behind the iron gate as they prepared to thwart any attempts to attack them in stark contrast to the approach they had adopted during the first two days of the crisis.

Singnat residents taking out a rally at CCpur

Chilling videos and photos on how the police used live bullets on the protesters and their utter disregard for those shots have been doing the rounds in social media for the past several weeks leading the public to loath any man in uniform.

The womenfolk led by the Singngat JAC functionaries handed over several truckloads of firewood and rice that were donated by the villagers of Singngat proper and its adjoining villages while they expressed their desire to perform any task assigned to them by the JAC Churachandpur.

Meanwhile a communication issued by the JAC today requested the Village Authorities or Village Welfare Committees to shoulder the task of holding sit-in-protest with effect from tomorrow and to allow womenfolk to do the same for the time-being.

With the situation in Churachandpur still volatile, and the apprehension that violence could re-ignite any moment has left people grappling to pick up their normal lives.

Schools and offices have remained closed for the third week in a row now.

Though the JAC has started partially lifting their agitation for a few hours almost on a daily basis, shops have been shut and the streets deserted well ahead of the end of the relaxation.

The JAC's decision to rest the womenfolk for now could be a turning point for the protracted agitation for fielding the men again on the streets could aggravate the still simmering tension as the additional security forces already deployed by the State are still confined within their barracks.

The security forces may not hesitate to confront the men.