Officials in GUWAHATI claimed that India has reinstated its internet ban in the troubled state of Manipur after violent protests broke out after photos of two deceased students slain during the conflict’s months-long siege were widely shared online.
Since May, when armed conflicts broke out between the state’s majority Hindu Meitei and minority Christian Kuki, more than 150 people have been slain in the impoverished northeast state.
The once-unified, far-flung state is now divided along ethnic lines, with competing militias erecting roadblocks.
Late Tuesday night, after violent protests in the state capital of Imphal left many injured, the internet ban that had been in place for nearly five months was reinstated.
Local media said that on Tuesday, police shot tear gas into a crowd of protesting students after images of the bodies of a 17-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man from the Meitei group were posted online. In July, the two were reported missing.
A government decree read, “Disrupting access to the Internet is necessary to prevent the spread of disinformation, false rumours, and other types of violent activities through social media platforms.”
State Chief Minister Biren Singh announced on Tuesday night that an investigation was underway into the killings.
Critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have called on him to do more to put an end to the violence in the state.
Human Rights Watch has said that “divisive policies that promote Hindu majoritarianism” on the part of Manipur’s government have contributed to the violence.
On Wednesday, opposition Congress party leader Mallikarjun Kharge posted on X, accusing the ruling party of turning Manipur “into a battlefield.”
