Trouble escalated in Manipur on Monday with violence spreading in the state. Police are on high alert after 22 vehicles were vandalised by a mob on the Imphal-Ukhrul road. As a result, an indefinite curfew has been imposed in Imphal East district and internet services have been banned in the state.
Locals in Manipur, meanwhile, are protesting against the economic blockade by United Naga Council (UNC). The UNC, on its part, has been protesting against the creation of seven new districts in Manipur that they say encroach on their ancestral land.
Unidentified people burnt two vehicles including a passenger bus at Naga Taphou area in Senapati district on Monday. On Sunday night, four vehicles of former minister Marung Makunga were vandalised at Saombung in Imphal East district, the police said.
Militants ambushed a Manipur police convoy and other state forces leaving three policemen dead, and 14 injured. They also attacked an Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) outpost and made away with nine service weapons.
As a result of the violence, internet services have been banned till December 25. Some Manipuris criticised the decision to shut down the internet. "I feel that it's wrong. Flow of information is what we need now. Anyway, whether they shut it down or not, there is bound to be chaos," Reagan Yumnam, a musician who lives in Delhi, told the International Business Times, India.
The internet shutdown "is to avoid people posting things which may provoke communal riots, but the riots may have already begun. The Nagas of Manipur and the Meiteis have been at war with each other for more than a decade," Yumnam pointed out.
Sylvia Oinam, who is doing her Bachelors in Education in Delhi, told the International Business Times, India that the ban is the right thing to do. "I think the move to ban internet services is an appropriate step taken by the government. This will put a stop to posts on communal tensions across the social media."
