The city witnessed a series of protests opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, here on Tuesday.

There was a massive gathering of women vendors at Ima market, organised by the Manipur People Against Citizenship Amendment Bill, a conglomerate of 66 Manipur-based organisations that was formed on Monday.

Vendors of all the four women’s markets closed shop to show solidarity with those protesting against the bill.

Ningthouja Lancha, an executive member of the committee, said, “The passing of the bill is like declaring war against the people of the Northeast. We request the Union and state governments to withdraw the bill from the Lok Sabha and not table it in the Rajya Sabha. If they fail to listen to the sentiments of the indigenous people, we will take a resolution with our people to decide about the future of Manipur. On Monday, we had declared a 24-hour general strike, starting Wednesday midnight. We will hold rallies and meetings on Thursday and a public convention on Friday.”

The president of United Committee Manipur, Sunil Karam, said, “The Northeast should not be turned into a dumping ground of illegal immigrants. If not, the entire Northeast will raise a united voice against the government of India. All the northeastern states must have a clear stand against the bill.”

Organised by Thangmeiband United Club, all the clubs in Thangmeiband staged sit-ins at different corners of the locality here on Tuesday.

Film Forum Manipur also organised a rally at Keishampat here.