All Manipur United Clubs Organisation members took to the streets against a news report published in a Kolkata-based English daily that projected the struggle of the Manipuris to protect the territorial integrity of the State in poor light .The agitators burnt copies of the paper to protest the 'biased' attitude of the national media while reporting on sensitive issues concerning the region.

Four days later, thousands of people carrying flaming bamboo torches took to the streets on the night of January 16 in a demonstration across the Manipur Valley, declaring that they would launch an 'independence movement' if New Delhi decided to dismember their State as part of any 'deal' to resolve the Naga imbroglio.