GUWAHATI: Apprehending law and order problems, the Manipur government suspended mobile internet services for five days across the state from Sunday morning.
The state’s Home department said some anti-social elements were fanning communal passions and hate speeches using social media.
The authorities clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts for two months. The miscreants torched two vehicles in two separate incidents on Saturday.
Tension has been brewing in the state since Friday morning when the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) imposed an indefinite "economic blockade" along the national highways in the hill districts after rejecting the Manipur (hill areas) district council 6th and 7th amendment bills introduced by the government in the Assembly on Tuesday.
The ATSUM for a long time has been demanding the tabling of Manipur (Hill Areas) Autonomous District Council (Amendment) Bill 2021 in the House to ensure the hill areas get greater financial and administrative autonomy and that they develop on a par with the valley areas.
The ATSUM said the amendment bills introduced by the government cannot fulfil tribal aspirations.
The blockade choked supplies to the non-tribal majority in Imphal valley which is surrounded by the hills where the tribals live. An organisation had on Friday locked the Imphal office of the ATSUM after viewing the blockade as targeted at valley areas.
The police had arrested five leaders of the students’ organisation on Thursday and charged them with conspiring to impose the blockade. They are now in judicial custody.
The ATSUM said the blockade would continue till the demands were met. It condemned the state government for its “step-motherly” attitude to the tribals. “We will keep intensifying our agitation till the state government fulfils our demands,” ATSUM vice president Vanlallian Khaute said.
There has always been a divide between the hills and the valley in Manipur. From 2002-17, Manipur witnessed a series of economic blockades when it was ruled by Congress. One of them, enforced by the United Naga Council in 2011, continued for 100 days.
Ahead of the 2017 Manipur elections, the BJP went to the voters promising to rid the state of blockades. The blockades virtually vanished after the party captured power.
During his first term, Chief Minister N Biren Singh had launched a programme “Go To Hills” to bridge the gap between the hills and the valley areas. He continued it after the BJP retained power.