Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the Langol Alternate Housing Complex Relief Camp continued their protest on Wednesday against the Sangai Festival 2025, currently underway at Hatta Kangjeibung.
Since the start of the festival, civil society organisations including COCOMI, along with the IDPs, have declared a complete boycott. Today marks the sixth day of the event, yet the venue remained largely deserted when we visited.
During the fresh protest held at the Langol Alternate Housing Complex, the IDPs strongly criticised the government for organising the festival while thousands of displaced families are still unable to return home even after more than two years.
Protesters said they had earlier urged the Government of Manipur not to proceed with the Sangai Festival under the present circumstances, but the authorities chose to go ahead regardless. They asserted that they would continue staging protests throughout the duration of the festival to reaffirm their stand.
One protester stated, “Why is the Government of Manipur organising this festival when many of us cannot return to our birthplace? They want to claim that peace has returned to Manipur for publicity, but we are still living in relief camps.”
The IDPs vowed to intensify their demonstrations until the festival concludes.
