At midnight of October 31, 2011, the Sadar Hills districthood Demand Committee (SHDDC) lifted the longest ever economic blockade in the history of Manipur after 92 days, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government. The Sadar Hills area in Senapati district was to be upgraded to a full-fledged Kuki district at the earliest, after the submission of the report by the District Re-organisation Committee. The Kukis have been demanding district status for the area since the early 1970s, with the bifurcation of the Kangpoki sub-division of the Naga majority Senapati district, to form a Kuki-dominated Sadar Hills district. The agreement was signed ahead of union home minister P. Chidambaram’s visit to Manipur on November 2, 2011.
The SHDDC had imposed an economic blockade on the two National Highways (NH)—NH-39 (renamed NH 2, Imphal-Dimapur) and NH-53 (renamed NH 37, Imphal-Jiribam)—of Manipur started on August 1, 2011. The long blockade resulted in four deaths and several injuries in confrontations between blockade supporters and the Security Forces (SFs). The blockade was converted into a general strike following the mowing down of three women in an accident. On August 2, on the second day of the economic blockade, three blockade supporters were rammed by an oil tanker at Kanglatongbi in Senapati district, when the driver lost control after the tanker came under attack from blockade supporters. Again, a truck driver who was critically injured by blockade supporters on NH-53 on August 3, 2011, succumbed to his injuries on August 13. On August 4, the blockade witnessed more violent incidents as the offices of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Kangpokpi), Sub Divisional Officer (Siatu Gamphajol), Public Health Engineering Department Executive Engineer (Kangpokpi) and Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (Kangpokpi), were set ablaze, and three vehicles at Gangpijang along Saikul Road and another two cars at Hengbung in Senapati district, were vandalized.
Inclusive of government buildings and private vehicles vandalized or destroyed, properties worth Rs 2.45 billion are estimated to have been lost during the course of 92 days blockade imposed by SHDDC. According to a government report, the state exchequer suffered a loss of Rs 25.7 million every day during the course of the economic blockade. Further, at least 20 government offices and around 45 private vehicles were set on fire by blockade supporters. Prices of essential commodities in the Imphal Valley soared as a result of shortages, with LPG cylinders sold in the black market for up to Rs 1,600 per cylinder and petrol at Rs 120 a litre.
Meanwhile, the Nagas, under the leadership of the United Naga Council (UNC), launched a counter-blockade on August 21, on all highways in the state, including NH 150, which links Manipur with Kohima in Nagaland and Aizawl in Mizoram, in opposition to the SHDDC demand. Sadar Hills is currently under Senapati district, where the Nagas constitute a majority, and the Naga organisations oppose bifurcation.
On October 30, 2011, a Manipur government report indicated that Manipur Police had, till that date, registered 48 First Information Reports (FIRs) for violent acts related with the economic blockade called by SHDDC, and nine cases related to the counter-blockade by UNC.
The October 31 MoU comes as a blow to the Nagas led by the UNC in Manipur, as they interpret it as a policy to further divide the Naga homeland and frustrate their ultimate goal of integration of Naga areas under one administrative unit. The Nagas have made no secret of their resentment. On November 1, 2011, reacting strongly to the signing of the MoU between the government of Manipur (GoM) and the SHDDC, the two main Naga bodies in the state, the UNC and the All Naga Students Association Manipur (ANSAM), took a decision to escalate their agitation. Condemning the manner in which the GoM had executed the agreement, without the consensus and consent of the Nagas, the UNC alleged that the government had failed to abide by the four MoUs signed with the Naga people in 1981, 1992, 1996 and 1998. Significantly, the MoU of 1998 states that “Resolution to the conflict on the issue of the Sadar Hills will be brought about through a consensus of the people concerned in the interest of bringing about lasting peace and harmony between the Nagas and the Kukis”. This MoU also agreed to honor the preceding agreements of 1981, 1992, 1996, which recognized the issue of land as the bone of contention between the Kukis and the Nagas. The 1992 MoU also guaranteed that no part of the Naga area would be bartered away under any circumstance.
The Nagas have now declared that their ongoing economic blockade would continue until further notice and that their agitation would intensify. The UNC enforced a three day bandh (total shutdown) from midnight of November 3 till November 6, 2011. The bandh turned violent on November 4, when at least 10 persons, mostly woman bandh supporters, were injured while engaging in a scuffle with the SFs at Noney along National Highway-53 in Tamenglong district.
Reacting to the Naga opposition, the SHDDC, on November 3, warned that it would resume its economic blockade unless both the central and state governments acted on the written assurance of the MoU signed between the committee and the state government. A memorandum addressed to union home minister Chidambaram noted,