India: Internet and Mobile Services Halted in Manipur Amid Ethnic Clashes

Responding to growing ethnic violence and mass demonstrations, Manipur, a northeastern state in India, stopped internet and mobile services on Saturday and instituted an indefinite curfew in regions where protestors were directing their attention on political residences.

 Protests demanding action over the continuous ethnic conflict claiming many lives have caused the violence to becoming more intense in recent weeks as demonstrators surround the homes of legislators.

The discovery of three bodies on Friday, thought to be belonging to members of the Meitei community—the majority ethnic group in the area—set off these demonstrations immediately. Meitei officials have said that these people were part of a family of six who were kidnapped by armed Kuki community members, an ethnic group engaged in the war. The deaths have stoked more turmoil and caused the already unstable condition to spiral.

Manipur has been struggling with inter-communal violence since May of the previous year, which has claimed over 250 lives and caused displacement of about 60,000 more individuals. Conflicts over government funding and reservations in jobs and education which have heightened tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities have their core cause, The violence has split Manipur's social fabric and created great gulf between the two factions.

Furious with the government's neglect of their needs, demonstrators swarmed in great numbers in the state capital, Imphal on Saturday, The demonstrators turned to violence, assaulting homes, setting vehicles on fire, and damaging properties when their requests to see legislators went denied. Security officials claim that four of the at least nine legislator homes under target suffered damage. BJP MP L. Sushindro Meitei verified that his residence had been attacked; windows had been shattered, but security personnel had scattered the mob before any major damage could have resulted.

The upheaval results from a more general problem with inter-ethnic conflicts engulfing the area. Ten Kuki men were killed in a violent confrontation between Kuki militants and security personnel on Monday, causing six family members to vanish—probably as victims of Kuki communal reprisal. The circumstances deteriorated even more when a 31-year-old lady from the Hmar group—a subgroup of the Kuki community—was burned alive in the Jiribam district. Meitei militants have been accused by Kuki groups of causing her death, hence aggravating the hostility between the two communities.

The state government has sent more security personnel in reaction to the increasing violence and promised to act forcefully against members of both groups involved in violent activity. Notwithstanding these initiatives, the state is still somewhat unstable; it is now essentially split into two ethnic enclaves: the Kuki-dominated hills and the Meitei-controlled valley, Under federal paramilitary control, a no-man's land divides these two areas, so accentuating the differences between the populations.

Apart from generating general anxiety and insecurity, the ethnic violence in Manipur has seriously disrupted the political stability of the area, The continuous violence has made clear how poorly the administration handles the fundamental problems of ethnic tensions and the desires of both populations for more political participation and resource access. Although the curfew and suspension of internet access are steps meant to bring order back, long-term conflict resolution will depend on closer involvement with the complaints of the Meitei and Kuki populations.

 Manipur's ethnic violence keeps the state unstable since communities are sharply split along ethnic lines, A monument to the seriousness of the matter are the violent demonstrations against legislators, the increasing death toll, and the uprooting of thousands of people. Underlying problems of political representation, resource allocation, and ethnic rights remain unaddressed as the government tries to quell the upheaval by security measures, therefore rendering a permanent peace in the region elusive.