Overview
- Police used batons and tear gas to push back protesters near the Hapta Kangjeibung venue in Imphal, leaving at least three injured and leading to detentions.
- Hundreds of displaced residents held coordinated sit-ins across relief camps on Nov. 20, urging resettlement and restoration of free movement before any festival.
- COCOMI has urged a statewide boycott, staging a mass sit-in on Nov. 20 and calling a “cease-work, stay-at-home” strike for the Nov. 21 opening day.
- The proscribed KCP-MC enforced a 24-hour bandh on Nov. 19 that largely shut markets and halted most transport across the Imphal valley districts.
- Officials say the festival will proceed Nov. 21–30 with heavy security, citing Rs 18 crore in monthly IDP assistance and a Rs 523 crore central relief package to support rehabilitation.