Manipur: Seven women shave head, take out cycle rally to spread message of peace

Imphal: In a symbolic protest, seven women shaved their heads and staged a cycle rally to spread the message of peace and unity in the ethnic violence that hit Manipur on Friday.

The women wearing black clothes rode from Sekmai, a fringe village to Kangla, at the heart of Imphal, covering a distance of at least 19 km.

Kh Shanti, a middle-aged woman who accompanied the seven women said, "Shaving off hair is a symbolic gesture and to protest the government's inability to check on periodic gun attacks on fringe areas of Imphal valley by militants based in adjacent hill areas of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi. We all are tired. We want peace." "May 3 marks the completion of one year of violence in the state. Today we once again remember the losses and atrocities committed on farmers, daily wage earners of Torbung and Phougakchao which was attacked by an armed mob from Churachandpur without provocation" M Sobita Devi, a Meira Paibi leader said at Kangla.

The woman rode bicycles with placards reading "We want peace, No to separate administration, protect territorial integrity." Internally displaced persons staying in relief camps and Khumujamba Meitei Leikai Pattadar Association also organised one year of completion of violence at Akamapat in Imphal East district.

More than 219 people were killed and thousands displaced from homes after ethnic clashes broke out on May 3 last year, when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals – Nagas and Kukis – constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts.