In a defiant show of grassroots resistance, women protestors in Kumbi, Bishnupur district, stopped a convoy of central armed forces and pasted a handwritten note reading “Manipur Kangleipak” on one of the vehicles—a bold rebuttal to what many see as an attempt to erase the state’s identity.
The quiet but forceful act, captured on video, unfolded amid the ongoing 48-hour shutdown called by COCOMI. The protestors formed a human blockade, compelling the convoy to halt, and then placed the symbolic message “Manipur Kangleipak,” the ancient name of the state, directly on the military vehicle as a statement of ownership, history, and resistance.
This gesture came in the wake of the MAHAR Regiment’s controversial removal of the word “Manipur” from a State Transport bus ferrying media persons to Ukhrul—an act that has provoked widespread anger and mobilisation across the valley.
