As the Sangai Festival continues under President’s Rule, the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) today claimed that the boycott of the event is gaining wide public backing, and appealed for torch rallies and street demonstrations to be carried out in the coming days under the slogan “Let’s Not Participate in Sangai Festival 2025.”
COCOMI convenor Khuraijam Athouba, in a release, said many citizens are voluntarily distancing themselves from the festival, calling it a “collective moral stand” against celebrating publicly while thousands remain displaced and uncertain about their future since the violence of May 3, 2023.
Stating that entertainment cannot substitute resettlement and security, the committee announced plans for locality-based torch rallies and demonstrations during the festival nights up to November 30, as a reminder that real normalcy lies in restoring people’s dignity, not in glitter and fireworks.
