From midnight till early morning, Kangpokpi town rang with chants of "Assam Rifles Don't Leave Us", "Assam Rifles We Need You" and "Assam Rifles Zindabad" by Kuki-Zo women.
As a proposed plan of Assam Rifles withdrawing from the buffer zones in Kangpokpi district reached their ears late in the night, Kuki-Zo women began to gather in large numbers in Kangpokpi town and began protests along NH 2 against the 'plan' with chants.
The women were seen falling on the feet of the Commanding Officer of the 22 Assam Rifles, weeping, crying, and pleading not to leave them.
The womenfolk even marched toward the 22 Assam Rifles Kangpokpi Post near the Inspection Bungalow where they sat and slept the whole night on the road while another group of women stayed the whole night along the National Highway-2.
Assam Rifles personnel had reportedly planned to withdraw from the buffer zones at around 6 am which actually did not happen after the Union Home Ministry held back.
After learning the Centre's decision to hold back decision to withdraw the Assam Rifles, the Kuki-Zo women's protest ended in a thanking note as they expressed sincere gratitude to the Centre after it held back the withdrawal plan.
One of the protestors said that the presence of the Assam Rifles in the buffer zones not only receded the non-stop violence in the peripheral areas but also provided peace of mind and security.
Meanwhile, CoTU's 12-Hour total shutdown in Kangpokpi district culminated without any report of untoward incidents.
CoTU had imposed the total shutdown to mark the 90 days of violence in Manipur while commemorating the Kuki-Zo martyrs in the ongoing violence.
It was also to show their discontentment over the non-withdrawal of state security forces including police commandos from Moreh and the fresh arsoning of Kuki-Zo houses in Imphal.
