North-east militants call for shutdown on Republic Day

Guwahati: With less than 48 hours left for the Republic Day celebrations to start off, four militant outfits operating in north-east India on Sunday called for their boycott on January 26.

The United Liberation Front of WESEA (UNLFW), Coordination Committee (CorCom) of Manipur, Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) and the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) called for the shutdown in the region from 12.01 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

In a joint statement issued here, these organisations, however, said emergency services, media and religious activities have been kept out of the shutdown`s purview.

"We call upon the citizens to put out a strong, clear message and protest against the imposed celebration of the Republic day in our West Eastern South East Asia (WESEA). We call for a total shutdown of our region from 00.01 hrs to 18 hrs of January 26," the statement mailed to the media said.