Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 27: Curfew was clamped in the capital city of Imphal and the state government extended the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the entire state barring 19 police station areas as protests against the killing of two students in Manipur intensified on Wednesday morning.
The protests led to demonstrators clashing with police personnel in Imphal forcing the police to baton-charge the protesters and fire tear gas shells to bring the situation under control.
The fresh round of protests erupted following the kidnapping and brutal killing of two students belonging to the Metei community by suspected armed men. Scores of students took to streets and attempted to march towards chief minister N Biren Singh’s residence after the pictures of students’ bodies emerged on social media, days after the government lifted the nearly five-month ban on mobile internet services.
Two photos of the girl and the boy, who went missing in July, emerged on Monday. The first photo shows the two teenagers – both of whom are 17 years old – sitting on the grass in what appears to be a jungle camp of an armed group. Two men with guns can be seen standing behind them. The next photo shows both of them dead, with their bodies lying on the ground.
Massive protests against the killings, led mainly by students, broke out on Tuesday night. The demonstrators attempted to march towards the residence of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, but were stopped.
The protest continued near Kangla Fort, close to the chief minister’s residence, on Wednesday morning. Clashes broke out between the protesters and the police and, when attempts to control the situation failed, the police personnel resorted to a baton charge and firing tear gas shells at the protesters. Initial reports point to several protesters being injured, some of them grievously.
The Manipur government on Wednesday declared the entire state a ‘disturbed area’ under AFSPA for a period of six months in the wake of the prevailing law and order situation. However, the government has kept 19 specific police stations out of the ‘disturbed area’ status, which include the capital Imphal.
The state government, in a notification, said the “violent activities of various extremist/insurgent groups warrant the use of Armed Forces in aid of civil administration in the entire state.”
The notification further said a detailed assessment of the situation on ground was convenient at the moment considering the security forces were currently occupied in maintaining the law and order in the state. Therefore, reviewing the ‘disturbed area’ status was also not appropriate before arriving at a conclusion on such sensitive matter, the government said.
It has also acknowledged the possible resistance and public criticism following the declaration of the ‘disturbed area’ status ‘if proper care is not taken’, and further announced the maintenance of status quo in the declared areas.
The Disturbed area declaration under AFSPA in Manipur (except Imphal Municipality area) is in operation since 2004. In April 2022, AFSPA was removed from 15 police station areas in six districts and from April 1, the Disturbed Area notification was withdrawn from four other police stations. So far, 19 police station limits in seven districts of Manipur have been removed from the disturbed area notification under AFSPA.
On recent killings of two students – Phijam Hemjit, 20, and Hijam Linthoingambi, 17 – CM Biren Singh assured action against the perpetrators. The case has been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and a team headed by the agency’s special director Ajay Bhatnagar has already reached Imphal on Wednesday.
The Manipur police said their initial probe revealed that the missing 20-year-old man and 17-year-old girl may have eloped on July 6, but got trapped in an area dominated by the Kuki community while fleeing, after which they were allegedly abducted and murdered.
The prompt CBI investigation into the deaths of the students has sparked protests from members of the other community, who have accused the Biren Singh government of being partial ever since the ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3.
The reimposition of the curfew in Imphal comes a day after the ban on mobile internet was put in place in the state again. The mobile internet ban had been lifted only on September 23, almost five months after it had been imposed. It was reimposed on Tuesday following protests over the killings of the two students.
Over 180 people have lost their lives and more than 3,000 have been injured in the ethnic violence in Manipur, which began on May 3, when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status. More than 60,000 people remain displaced and property worth thousands of crores has been destroyed.
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