Imphal | Normal life was disrupted across Manipur’s valley districts on Monday as a 24-hour bandh called by proscribed outfit National Revolutionary Front Manipur (NRFM) over the 1949 Manipur Merger Agreement kept schools, colleges, markets and offices shut.

Public transport remained off the roads in Imphal till around 11.40 am, while some private vehicles continued to operate in the main areas of the state capital. The shutdown coincided with the 77th anniversary of the signing of the Manipur Merger Agreement on September 21, 1949.

The NRFM said the bandh was intended to highlight what it described as unresolved historical, constitutional and political issues surrounding Manipur’s merger with India. The outfit also opposed the celebration of January 21, 1972, as the day of Manipur’s creation, arguing that the state had established political and constitutional institutions before attaining full statehood.

In a statement, the NRFM urged people to stay away from celebrations that, according to the outfit, portray Manipur as having been created as a new Indian state on January 21, 1972. The banned group cited the Manipur State Constitution Act, 1947, and the elected representative institutions that existed before the merger to argue that Manipur had an established constitutional system.

It also questioned the circumstances surrounding the signing of the Merger Agreement by Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh, claiming that the document was not ratified by the elected Manipur Legislative Assembly. The outfit referred to the National Convention on Manipur Merger Issue held in Imphal in October 1993, which it said had raised questions over the legality and constitutional validity of the agreement.

The NRFM also invoked provisions of the United Nations Charter concerning self-determination, political independence and decolonisation. It called for Manipur’s political status to be examined under international law and sought consideration of the state as a Non-Self-Governing Territory under the UN framework. Manipur, however, is not currently on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.

The bandh came days after authorities arrested two alleged active members of the banned outfit in connection with firing on a CRPF convoy in Imphal West. The arrests were made on September 16.The NRFM, earlier known as the United Revolutionary Front, was formed on September 11, 2011, by cadres from three factions of the Kangleipak Communist Party, according to security agencies.

Security agencies have alleged that senior NRFM leaders have operated from bases in a neighbouring country and that the outfit has been involved in violence and extortion in parts of the Manipur Valley.