More than 140 days after mobile Internet was suspended in violence-hit Manipur, the services were restored on Saturday. An order by the government said that the incidents of violence have gone down compared to the initial days and “law and order has improved in the State.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled State witnessed the longest ever Internet shut down this year after Jammu and Kashmir, which saw communication blockade for 552 days, in wake of the reading down of its special status under Article 370 of the constitution.
Ethnic violence erupted in Manipur on May 3 between the tribal Kuki-Zo and the Meitei community after a tribal solidarity march to protest a High Court order directing the State government to consider including the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe list, turned violent.
At least 175 people have been killed in the violence that has lingered for the past five months. More than 60,000 people were internally displaced, around 12,000 Kuki-Zo people took shelter in the neighbouring State of Mizoram.
The restoration of the services was announced by the Chief Minister N. Biren Singh in Imphal.
Broadband Internet services with several conditions were restored on July 25. Mobile data services were allowed on “whitelisted” numbers approved by the government all this while.
A government official said Saturday’s order was line in with the gradual easing of curbs on the Internet as it was also affecting the economy.
In the past, after public interest litigation (PIL) petitions were filed in the High Court of Manipur, the court directed the State government to restore the services partially.
After the ban was lifted, several videos of violence pertaining to the first few days of violence stormed social media platforms.
The official said they were keeping a watch on the activities on Internet and such videos were not “unexpected.”
On September 15, at a press conference, Inspector General of Police (Operation) I.K. Muivah said that 5,132 cases of arson including 4,786 case of burning of houses have been reported since May 3. He said 386 religious structures - 254 are churches and 132 temples were vandalised in the violence. He added that 1,118 persons have been injured and 32 people are still missing. More than 4,000 weapons have been looted from police armouries. The officer said that 1,329 weapons had been recovered till September 15.
The restrictions were lifted on the day when curfew was imposed in all the five valley districts where the Meitei people live as police anticipated protests from civil society groups and women leaders after M. Anand Singh, who was among five armed men granted bail by an Imphal court on Friday was arrested by the National Investigation Agency and flown to Delhi.
The valley districts have been reeling under protest since September 16 when five “armed miscreants” were arrested with sophisticated weapons. They were wearing police uniforms at the time of arrest. The civil groups have claimed that the five men were “village defence volunteers.” Police said Singh was a former member of a banned insurgent group - the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) – that operates from Myanmar and advocates secession of Manipur from India.
