Imphal: Ten opposition parties supported the 33-hour bandh call given by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) against the missing of two students Avinash and Anthony crippled normal life on the first day in the state on Friday.
In view of the bandh, public transport remained off the roads, and educational institutes, oil pumps, banks, and business establishments in the heart of Imphal city remained closed.
At different locations especially on the Uripok-Kangchup road, the bandh supporters were seen burning the tires in the middle of the road amid sit-in protests.
Extending their support to the bandh, the 10 opposition parties AAP, AIFB, AITC, CPI, CPI (M), INC, JD(U), NCP, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray), and RSP, have warned of strong agitation together with the people for early rescue of the two missing students Maibam Avinash and Ningthoujam Anthony who have been missing since November 5 on their driving down the red zone in the northern part of the state.
The bandh started from 4 am on Friday (November 10) and would continue till 1 pm on November 11 — a total of 33 hours.
Emergency services including media, water supplies, pharmacy, medical, and fire services have been exempted from the purview of the bandh.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) Manipur State unit president Toijam Devananda, on behalf of the ten opposition political parties, said that the government has failed to protect the citizens repeatedly.
He stated that the whereabouts of two students Hijam Linthoingambi and Phijam Hemanjit are still unknown.
In the same vein, neither the state government nor the central government has succeeded in finding the whereabouts of Ningthoujam Anthony, 19, and Maibam Avinash, 14, to date after they were kidnapped on November 5.