Newmai News Network Senapati | July 12 Thousands on Tuesday took out a rally in Senapati district headquarters to protest the explosion that occurred at the district Deputy Commissioner's office complex last Sunday night. In the blast, some damage was done to a room allotted to Planning Department located inside the premises of the deputy commissioner’s office, but there were no human casualties. The NSCN (K) Shepoumaramth region has claimed responsibility for the incident. Normal life was halted due to the massive protest rally which kicked-off from Senapati Mini Stadium at 9 am. The rally participated by over 2000 people snaked through the streets of the district administrative headquarters located about 60 km north of Imphal. The demonstrators which included village leaders rallied upto Senapati District Council office complex. Later, a mammoth public meeting was held at the Senapati Mini Stadium. The meet strongly condemned the blast. The participants held placards which read, “Senapati cry for peace and love”, “Senapati-not a terrorist district”, “Make Senapati a peaceful zone”, “We condemn Bomb & Gun culture”, “We don’t need Bombs & Guns to bring peace”, “No amount of bomb can change the world”, “Human race cannot coexist with bomb”, “Stop terrorism against humanity”, “We condemn bomb blast at DC Office”, “Respect public property”, “We want peace not war”, “Peace & Development our solution”, etc. during the rally. Speaking to a host of media persons on the sideline of the public rally, Naga People’s Organization (NPO) president, Moses Kamba said that Naga civil bodies including NPO, tribe hohos and frontal organizations had earlier declared Senapati to be a ‘Peace Zone’ after the first mass protest rally against placing of an IED at DC Office in 2014. He continued that the mass protest rally today was organized after the collective resolution of all apex bodies including NPO, tribe hohos and frontal organizations in an emergency joint meeting yesterday against the bomb blast at DC Office on July 10. He further said that the rally was organized to show the people’s disapproval of such anti-social activities and it was also to convey the responsible group that things could turn ugly if any such anti-social activities occur again in future. While strongly condemning Sunday bomb blast at DC office, Mao Council President, Dili Mao lamented that "bomb threat is not our culture and ethic". Tuesday’s rally came after an emergency joint meeting of all apex bodies including NPO, SDSA, SDWA and five Tribe Hohos was held yesterday to discuss the bomb blast that took place at a public place. The meeting decided that any group involved in the incident “will not be allowed to operate” in Senapati. Other militant groups also operate in the district. It also urged the authorities to immediately investigate, book, and punish all culprits and demanded the group or individual to come out clean before the public and clarify the incident at the earliest. According to Hillson Pou, Information and Publicity in-charge, NSCN-K Shepoumaramth region, the group had triggered the blast to protest the alleged negligence shown towards its voice and those sacrificed for the cause of the Naga sovereignty. Earlier, a team of forensic experts from Manipur Police collected important items to investigate into the blast. The 35 AR sniffer dog was also used to detect any other items at the scene.
