The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) has intensified its resistance to the upcoming Sangai Festival 2025, urging citizens across Manipur to support a statewide boycott and a mass sit-in demonstration called by internally displaced persons (IDPs) on Thursday, November 20.
At a press conference at its Lamphelpat office on November 18, COCOMI convenor Khuraijam Athouba said the IDP community had opposed the festival’s conduct at a time when thousands remain displaced after two-and-a-half years of ethnic conflict. The festival is scheduled to begin on November 21.
He said large-scale preparations by the President’s Rule administration were progressing “in full swing” even as displaced families continued to face acute hardship. Organising a mega tourism event under such circumstances, he argued, “goes against the collective interest and sentiment of the people”.
Athouba said frustration and resentment among IDPs had led to the call for a mass sit-in on November 20, and appealed to the wider public to stand in solidarity. The growing anger, he said, was fuelled by the perception that the government had prioritised a celebratory event over urgent humanitarian concerns.
“It is important to expose that the Sangai Festival is not a festival for the masses, but a festival organised by the Government for the Government alone,” he asserted.
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The Sangai Festival, Manipur’s premier tourism showcase, is held annually to promote the state’s cultural heritage, traditional crafts and natural attractions. Named after the endangered brow-antlered deer found only in Manipur, the festival draws visitors from across India and abroad with its performances, food fairs and exhibitions.
COCOMI has urged residents in all localities to suspend routine activities and stage peaceful demonstrations on November 21 under the slogan “Handak Chahi gi Sangai Festival Eikhoi Saruk Yaroi” (We will not participate in this year’s Sangai Festival), the day the event is to begin.
The organisation said its boycott call is intended to convey a clear message to the wider world: that the people of Manipur do not endorse the government’s priorities amid a prolonged humanitarian crisis and continued displacement.
With no sign yet of a political resolution or safe return for thousands forced into relief camps, COCOMI said the festival had become emblematic of official indifference.
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