{"id":5809,"date":"2025-11-21T00:02:53","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T18:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/?p=5809"},"modified":"2026-01-19T05:18:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T05:18:33","slug":"cocomi-slams-government-for-pushing-anti-people-sangai-festival-calls-mass-sit-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/21\/cocomi-slams-government-for-pushing-anti-people-sangai-festival-calls-mass-sit-in\/","title":{"rendered":"COCOMI Slams Government for Pushing \u2018Anti-People\u2019 Sangai Festival; Calls Mass Sit-In"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Khuraijam Athouba<\/strong>, Convenor of the <strong>Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI)<\/strong>, has issued a strong public statement condemning the State administration\u2019s decision to go ahead with the Sangai Festival 2025, calling it \u201c<strong>anti-people<\/strong>\u201d and \u201c<strong>insensitive to the humanitarian crisis gripping Manipur<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>COCOMI, along with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and civil society members, staged a mass agitation against what it describes as the Governor-led administration\u2019s unilateral push to organise the festival at Mapal Kangjeibung from 21 November.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Condemnation of Police Action<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>COCOMI denounced what it termed the \u201c<strong>brutal and unprovoked actions<\/strong>\u201dof security forces against peaceful protestors during today\u2019s demonstration.<\/p>\n<p>The committee highlighted that several demonstrators, including displaced persons and women, sustained injuries. It also condemned the \u201c<strong>manhandling and brutal charging and arrest<\/strong>\u201d of COCOMI IPR Convenor <strong>Laikhuram Jayenta<\/strong>, while stating that another volunteer, <strong>Shamurailatpam Devadutta<\/strong>, remained \u201c<strong>untraceable till the release of this statement<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>COCOMI stated: \u201c<em><strong>Such excessive and targeted use of force upon civil society leaders is a clear violation of democratic norms and fundamental civic rights<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>Also Read <\/strong>\u2013 <strong>COCOMI Protesters Clash With Police Near Sangai Festival Venue; Tear Gas Fired Amid Chaos<\/strong><\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/Ichel\/cocomi-protesters-clash-with-police-near-sangai-festival-venue-tear-gas-fired-amid-chaos\/\">https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/Ichel\/cocomi-protesters-clash-with-police-near-sangai-festival-venue-tear-gas-fired-amid-chaos\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2018<strong>Anti-People Festival\u2019 Amid Ongoing Crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The organisation criticised the government\u2019s decision to prioritise the festival while thousands remain displaced and unable to return to their homes.<\/p>\n<p>COCOMI said: \u201c<em><strong>What meaningful purpose does such a festival serve when the very people for whom it is intended are still unable to return home, move freely, or exercise their fundamental <em>rights<\/em><\/strong><strong>?&#8221;<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>It added that insisting on an extravagant cultural event \u201c<em><strong>when the wounds of violence are still fresh<\/strong><\/em>\u201d is \u201c<em><strong>insensitive, misplaced, and against the wishes of the people.<\/strong><\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>Also Read<\/strong>\u2013 <strong>AMMSO Calls Sangai Festival \u201cInsensitive\u201d as Thousands Remain Displaced<\/strong><\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/Ichel\/ammso-calls-sangai-festival-insensitive-as-thousands-remain-displaced\/\">https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/Ichel\/ammso-calls-sangai-festival-insensitive-as-thousands-remain-displaced\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Demands Ahead of Any Celebration<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The statement, also emphasised that before any festival is held, the State must:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Restore fundamental rights and freedom of movement of all citizens<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u00a0Ensure the safe return of all IDPs to their homes<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Re-establish peace and normalcy across Manipur<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Stop all forms of coercion and suppression against civilian voices<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>COCOMI warned that ignoring these demands would make the administration \u201c<strong>irrelevant to the needs and aspirations of the people.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>Also Read<\/strong>\u2013 <strong>MP Sanajaoba&#8217;s Office Files Complaint Against IGP Themthing Ngashangva for \u2018Unruly Behaviour\u2019 at Royal Palace<\/strong><\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/Ichel\/mp-sanajaobas-office-files-complaint-against-igp-themthing-ngashangva-for-unruly-behaviour-at-royal-palace\/\">https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/Ichel\/mp-sanajaobas-office-files-complaint-against-igp-themthing-ngashangva-for-unruly-behaviour-at-royal-palace\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Call for Mass Sit-In Demonstration on 21 November<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>COCOMI issued a public call for all citizens to participate in a <strong>mass sit-in demonstration<\/strong> on <strong>21 November 2025<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The declaration includes two key resolutions:<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWE WILL NOT TAKE PART IN SANGAI FESTIVAL 2025\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0\u201cRESTORE OUR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS BEFORE SANGAI FESTIVAL\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>COCOMI warns against the decision to hold Sangai Festival as \u201c<em><strong>The people of Manipur will not allow anti-people decisions to be imposed upon them under any circumstance.<\/strong><\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Khuraijam Athouba, Convenor of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), has issued a strong public statement condemning the State administration\u2019s decision to go ahead with the Sangai Festival 2025, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/21\/cocomi-slams-government-for-pushing-anti-people-sangai-festival-calls-mass-sit-in\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5810,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,33],"tags":[1093,1094,1003,1095,1096,1097,1098,52,1099,1100,859,1101,1102,1103],"class_list":["post-5809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inn","category-state","tag-anti-people-festival-allegation","tag-civil-society-organisations","tag-cocomi","tag-cocomi-mass-sit-in","tag-cocomi-protest","tag-cocomi-statement-on-festival","tag-government-vs-cocomi","tag-manipur","tag-manipur-government-criticism","tag-manipur-public-unrest","tag-manipur-sangai-festival-2025","tag-protest-in-imphal","tag-public-sentiment-against-sangai-festival","tag-sangai-festival-controversy","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5809"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8351,"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5809\/revisions\/8351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}