GUWAHATI: The arson attacks in the Litan areas of Manipur’s Naga-majority Ukhrul district continued for the third day on Tuesday, prompting the state government to suspend internet services in the entire district.
A Tangkhul (tribe) Naga man was assaulted, allegedly by a group of Kuki-Zo people at the Litan Sareikhong village on the night of Saturday, triggering the violence.
The Home Department ordered the suspension of internet services, including broadband services, for five days in view of the “volatile situation and the apprehension that anti-social elements might use social media for transmission of images, posts and video messages inciting the passions of the public, which could have serious repercussions on the law-and-order situation.”
District Magistrate Asish Das told the TNIE from Litan that more than ten houses belonging to both Naga and Kuki-Zo communities were burnt on Tuesday. This came after multiple arson attacks on Sunday and Monday reduced 27 to 28 houses to ashes.
“The situation is not under control,” the DM said, dismissing reports of loss of lives in the violence. In social media videos, armed men were seen resorting to gunfire.
The violence continued despite the enforcement of prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS, deployment of Army and paramilitary personnel and Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh’s call to maintain peace and normalcy.
Civil society organisations from both communities, which met on Monday at Litan in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Losii Dikho and two local MLAs, appealed for restraint, but peace remains elusive.
The situation escalated on Sunday afternoon when Naga villagers approached the chief of a nearby Kuki village, demanding that the alleged perpetrators be produced before them. On Sunday evening, several people, including a police officer, were injured in a stone-pelting attack; later, at night, arson attacks followed.
Viral videos circulating on social media, reportedly filmed in low-light conditions, captured sounds resembling gunshots.
Many villagers fled to safer places in the wake of the violence that disrupted road traffic between Ukhrul and the Imphal valley. Keeping in view the convenience of the public, the state government arranged for one sortie of special helicopter service for Imphal-Ukhrul-Imphal on Tuesday.
The government is also working on scheduling two helicopter sorties on the same route for Wednesday. These special helicopter services are scheduled over and above the regular schedule, an official statement said.
Meanwhile, the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust appealed to both the Tangkhul and the Kuki communities to uphold peace, mutual respect, and restraint.
“Reports indicate that the situation began as an isolated altercation involving a few drunken individuals. However, attempts to communalise the matter threaten to inflame unnecessary divisions between the Tangkhul and the Kuki communities,” the organisation said.
It urged all concerned to refrain from spreading inflammatory narratives and prevent escalation of a “petty dispute into a wider ethnic confrontation.”