Since May 2023, Manipur has been witnessing clashes between the Kuki and Meitei communities, leading to significant loss of life and large-scale displacement. Amid mounting criticism over his handling of the crisis, Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh resigned on 09 February 2025. Subsequently, the Central government imposed President’s Rule in the state on 13 February 2025 (here, here). Amid this, a video circulating on social media (here, here, here, and here) claims to show women blocking an army convoy. The post is being shared with the claim that the incident occurred after the recent imposition of the President’s Rule in Manipur. Let’s verify the claim made in the post through this article.
The archived post can be found here.
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Claim: The video shows a few women blocking an army convoy from entering a village after President’s Rule was imposed in Manipur in February 2025. Fact: The video dates back to 30 April 2024 and is unrelated to the imposition of the President’s Rule in February 2025. It shows a protest by women from the Meitei cultural movement, Meira Paibis (torchbearers), at Kumbi Police Station in Bishnupur district, Manipur. They were demanding the release of Village Defence Force members detained by the army and the return of their seized weapons. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING. |
Upon closely examining the viral video, we noticed a watermark of ‘ISTV NEWS’. Using this as a cue, we conducted a keyword-based search on YouTube and found a longer version of the same video uploaded by Manipur-based news channel ISTV on its YouTube channel, ISTV LIVE, on 30 April 2024. This confirms that the incident in the video took place before the imposition of the President’s Rule in Manipur and is not a recent development.
To gather more information about this incident, we conducted a Google search using relevant keywords, which led us to a report by Nagaland Post published on 01 May 2024. The report features the same scenes as seen in the viral video. According to this report, the incident took place on 30 April 2024 at Kumbi Police Station in Bishnupur district, Manipur.
We found multiple reports covering this incident (here, here, here, and here). According to these reports, on 29 April 2024, in the Thangalavai area under Kumbi Police Station in Bishnupur district, troops of the 2nd Mahar Regiment of the Indian Army intercepted an 11-member Village Defence Force (VDF) team. The team was wearing police uniforms and carrying weapons while travelling in two gypsy vehicles. The army seized 10 weapons from them.
Following this, on 30 April 2024, women protesters from the Meitei cultural movement Meira Paibis (torchbearers) staged a protest at Kumbi Police Station, demanding the release of the VDF members and the return of the seized weapons. The Meira Paibis blocked the army convoy by placing a broken-down car on the road, attempting to prevent the troops from leaving with the confiscated weapons. However, the army moved forward, leading to a clash in which troops fired several rounds into the air to disperse the crowd.
President's Rule In Manipur
President’s Rule has been imposed in Manipur under Article 356 of the Indian Constitution due to political instability. This is the 11th instance of the President’s Rule in the state, with the previous imposition lasting from 02 June 2001 to 06 March 2002. After a gap of 23 years, it has been reintroduced.
As per constitutional provisions, the President’s Rule can initially be imposed for six months and extended up to a maximum of three years, subject to parliamentary approval every six months. While the Manipur Legislative Assembly, with its tenure until 2027, has not been dissolved, it has been placed under ‘suspended animation,’ allowing for the possibility of forming a government once the President’s Rule is lifted (here, here).
To sum up, video of Meitei women blocking an army convoy in Manipur in April 2024 is falsely shared as a February 2025 incident after the imposition of the President’s Rule.
This story was originally published by Factly, as part of the Shakti Collective. Except for the headline and excerpt, this story has not been edited by ABP LIVE staff.