November 19, 2025 : A sweeping shutdown grips Manipur today after the Kangleipak Communist Party–Military Council (Progressive) enforced a 24-hour total bandh, denouncing the state government’s move to celebrate the Sangai Festival from November 21 to 30 despite the continuing ethnic crisis.
Calling the festival “a celebration built on suffering,” the outfit has vowed to oppose the event, arguing that holding a tourism spectacle when thousands remain displaced is unjust and insensitive.
Adding to the growing resistance, the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) has intensified its opposition to the upcoming Manipur Sangai Festival 2025, urging the public to support a statewide boycott and to join a mass sit-in demonstration organised by internally displaced persons (IDPs) on November 20.
Essential and emergency services—including media, medical care, hospitals, water supply, fire services, and religious activities—remain exempt from today’s strike.
Security measures are extremely high across Imphal city, with heavy deployment of forces around the Sangai Festival venue at Hapta Kangjeibung.
The bandh follows the state government’s official notification confirming that the Sangai Festival will be held at Hapta Kangjeibung, Imphal, starting November 21.
Meanwhile, government departments continue festival-related preparations, including rigid pavement construction at Palace Compound Road, ground levelling, tent installation, and renovation of the Bhagyachandra Open Air Theatre near Hapta Kangjeibung.
As the bandh unfolds today, shops remain closed, roads are largely deserted, vehicle movement is halted, and only essential services continue to operate.
