Mayhem in Manipur: Curfew imposed, internet suspended after protesters attack MLA houses

Guwahati: Recovery of six bodies since Friday brought mayhem back to Manipur forcing the administration to re-impose curfew and suspend mobile internet in several districts on Saturday.

As the news about recovery of the bodies, believed to be the Meitei women and children who went missing in Jiribam district on November 11, spread, protesters led by women spilled into the streets of Imphal and elsewhere and started attacking houses of several MLAs.

They burnt tires and blocked the roads alleging that the BJP-led government in the state failed to rescue the six Meitei women and children, who were abducted by the "kuki insurgents." 

Houses of CM N Biren Singh, his son-in-law Rajkumar Imo Singh, Sapam Kunjakeswar and Independent MLA Sapam Nishikanta came under attack, sources said.

Police resorted to tear gas firing in order to control the mob. The curfew was clamped from 4.30 pm by the administration until further notice.

Mobile internet and data services were suspended in the Valley's Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur, Kakching and Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi and Churachandpur districts. Curfew was earlier clamped and mobile internet remained suspended for weeks after the Meitei-Kuki clash started in May last year. 

The bodies of a woman and two children were found in a river in Jiribam on Friday while the remaining three were recovered on Saturday. Police officials said the bodies are suspected to be those of the missing persons but refused to confirm till arrival of the post-mortem reports.

The six went missing during a gunfight between the CRPF and Manipur police that took place after "armed militants" (allegedly belonging to Kuki-Zo) attacked a CRPF camp and a police station, where displaced Meitei persons were provided shelters.  

Claim of Kukis

Kuki-Zo organisations, on the other hand, claimed that those killed were not militants but "village volunteers" belonging to the Hmar community, who were "defending" their villages against possible attacks by the Meiteis.

They said that the "village volunteers" gathered following information about entry of armed men belonging to Arambai Tenggol, a Meitei radical group, into the police station but they were gunned down by the CRPF and Manipur police. Hmars are part of the greater Kuki-Zo communities.

On Saturday, the 10 bodies were airlifted to Churachandpur from Silchar Medical College and Hospital in Assam, where the post-mortems were conducted. But the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum, a forum of Kuki-Zo organisations, refused to accept the bodies without post-mortem papers.  

Derailment of peace process

The state Cabinet held a meeting on Friday night in which it said that a "vested interest group" was trying to derail the peace process initiated by the Centre by inviting all MLAs to New Delhi on October 15.

"The Cabinet expressed shock and the killing of innocent Hmar and Meitei civilians and condemned the cowardly acts in the strongest terms. Cabinet agreed to recommend to the Centre for declaring the organisations responsible for carrying out the inhuman crimes, as unlawful organisations," said a statement issued by the CM's office on Saturday.

The MHA also instructed the security forces to take strict steps to maintain law and order.  

On Friday, Coordination Committee on Manipur Unity, a forum of the Meiteis, dispatched a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention for safe release of the six. The COCOMI said the Centre would be held responsible if anything untoward happened to the six. 

Manipur has remained roiled in the Meitei-Kuki conflict since May last year in which nearly 240 people have been killed and over 60,000 others displaced.