Overview

• The Foothills Naga Coordination Committee initiated the shutdown at midnight on July 18 to protest Kuki road works, enforcing roadblocks in Kangpokpi, Noney and Tamenglong districts.
• The FNCC alleges the Tiger/German Road encroaches on Naga ancestral lands and demands removal of Kuki militant Suspension of Operations camps and a halt to poppy cultivation.
• Barricades built with logs, stones and debris at multiple junctions have halted civilian transport and stranded commuters for hours.
• The Kuki-Zo Council calls the bandh unconstitutional and inhumane, rejects drug trafficking claims and insists the road is an essential lifeline after ethnic violence severed Meitei valley routes.
• The standoff underscores deepening land rights disputes and the challenges of restoring inter-district connectivity under Manipur’s President’s Rule.