GUWAHATI: India imposed a curfew in the capital city and some areas of its restive state of Manipur on Thursday, after scores of students were wounded in violence following protests against the alleged kidnapping and murder of two students, authorities said.
Ethnic violence has plunged the northeastern state bordering Myanmar into what many security analysts describe as an intense civil war fought over jobs, land, and political clout between its two largest local communities.
More than eighty students were wounded in Wednesday’s clashes. The situation is very tense after armed mobs vandalised an office of the ruling political party and hurled petrol bombs at 2 police sites.
Mobile internet services have also been suspended in the state for five days.
Students have led the protests in #Imphal after photos of two missing youths, who are now feared dead, emerged in #Manipur . Today almost 120 people, mostly teenagers, were injured when the security personnel used force to disperse them. Imphal is under curfew now. pic.twitter.com/EJ3Jivr5uP
— Tridip K Mandal (@tridipkmandal) September 27, 2023
Violence in Manipur
Since the violence first started on 3 May, over 180 people have been killed and more than 50,000 have fled their homes in the state.
More than half the Manipur’s population of 3.2 million belongs to the Meitei community, while the Kuki community, who make up about 43 per cent, live mostly in the hills.
#Manipur – Clashes and unrest on streets of #Imphal as Central Reserve Police Force RAF clash with demonstrators as tear smoke shells fired and several projectiles throw, while curfew and five-day suspension of mobile internet services have been imposed by state government pic.twitter.com/fsS4AltKuy
— CyclistAnons🚲 (@CyclistAnons) September 28, 2023
Protests re-ignited over the alleged abduction and killing of two students of the Meitei community who had gone missing in July, after their bodies were found this week. The news went viral, reviving the ethnic tension.
- Biren Singh, the state’s chief minister and a leader of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, condemned the alleged murder and vowed maximum punishment for the culprits.
Meitei leaders and members of the students’ families have accused Kuki militants of the latest killing, and criticised authorities for failing to stop the violence.
Leaders of the opposition Congress party have accused the Narendra Modi government of failing to control the violence in a state governed by his party.
