A Kuki-Zo civil society organisation was on Monday engaged in talks with the administration of Kangpokpi district in Manipur to look for an end to the impasse over the state government’s move to restart free movement between the hill and valley districts, as the shutdown over the issue entered the second day.

The shutdown has paralysed normal life even as the Kuki-Zo-backed Committee on Tribal Unity (Cotu) and the Kangpokpi district administration engaged in discussions to find a way out of the bottleneck.

The Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) said on Monday night that the inconclusive talks between the Cotu and government officials would continue on Tuesday and they were hopeful of “an amicable solution” but till then the KZC urged people to continue extending their support “to our cause”.

The shutdown was called by the Kuki-Zo Council in protest against the state government’s move to resume Manipur State Transport bus services from Imphal to Senapati and Churachandpur on Saturday and the peace march announced by the Federation of Civil Society (FOCS), a Meitei organisation, without addressing the underlying causes that have triggered the conflict. The buses were slated to pass through Kuki-Zo-majority Kangpokpi district.

On Saturday, clashes between security forces and protesters resulted in the death of a 26-year-old protester. Sources said the Cotu demanded a judicial probe into the protest that turned violent, the transfer of the Kangopkpi superintendent of police and the cancellation of the free movement initiative.

Sources said the meeting started in Kangpokpi around 4pm on Monday but there was no breakthrough till 10pm. They also said that the Kuki-Zo organisations will lift the shutdown having made their point and because of inconveniences caused to everyone provided their demands were suitably addressed.

Everything remained shut in the Kuki-Zo areas except educational institutions where examinations were held. There was no traffic on National Highway 2 passing through the Kuki-Zo areas in Kangpokpi.

Allowing free movement would have sent out the message that everything was normal but that is not the case. There were clashes between security forces and protesters at multiple locations in Kangpokpi district.