Violence in Manipur: Army called in; Internet cut; curfew imposed; Shah calls CM; boxer Mary Kom declares her state to be on fire

Imphal, the capital of Manipur, was rocked by intense violence that resulted in the torching of numerous vehicles and places of worship. The Army has been called in to quell the unrest. Churachandpur and Imphal are the places most severely impacted.

Mary Kom tweeted: "My state Manipur is burning, kindly help," pleading with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to take quick action.

The violence broke out during a "Tribal Solidarity March" organised by the All Tribal Student Union Manipur (ATSUM) in the Churachandpur district's Torbung area to oppose the non-tribal Meiteis' quest for Scheduled Tribe (ST) designation since they predominate in the Imphal Valley. A senior police officer claimed that thousands of protesters participated in the rally during which there was alleged violence in the Torbung region between tribal people and non-tribal people.

On May 3 at night, the army was requisitioned, and it was to remain in place until May 4 or until further orders of extension. A combination team of the Army and state police arrived on Wednesday night and took control of the situation there. By daybreak, the violence had been significantly reduced thanks to the arrival of more police.

In Army-run and state government-owned facilities, nearly 4,000 villagers were taken to shelters. Flag marches were also held to maintain order throughout the sit-in.

CM of Manipur Makes Statement About Violence & Loss of Life

Biren Singh, the chief minister of Manipur, stated in a statement on Thursday that "precious lives have been lost" and that this "event is a result of misunderstanding between two parts of society."

"Some incidents of fighting, vandalism, and arson have been reported in Imphal, Bishnupur, and Moreh, among other places, over the past 24 hours," he continued. Along with property and home damage, precious lives have been lost, which is very, very unfortunate.

Eight Districts Have Curfews

Due to violence during a tribal movement on Wednesday, a curfew was enforced in eight districts of Manipur and mobile internet services were halted throughout the whole northeastern state.

The officer claimed that police used tear gas in large quantities to subdue the crowd.

The situation is still tense, but many protesters have begun going back to their houses in various hills, he said.

A substantial police presence has been guaranteed, and the non-tribal agitators have been requested to return to their homes, the official added. But, agitated youths were observed gathering at Canchipur in the Imphal West district and Soibam Leikai in Imphal East in the Valley asking for retaliation. Curfews have been imposed due to the circumstances in both the tribally dominant Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, and Tengnoupal districts as well as the non-tribal Imphal West, Kakching, Thoubal, Jiribam, and Bishnupur districts.

cellular connectivity was lost for five days.

With immediate effect, mobile internet services were shut down throughout the state for five days, but broadband services continued to run.

According to a Commissioner (H) order, "it had become necessary to take adequate measures to maintain law and order in the public interest by stopping the spread of misinformation and false rumours through various social platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter on phone in order to thwart the design and activities of anti-national and anti-social elements and to maintain peace and communal harmony and to prevent any loss of life or danger to public and private property."

It stated that the order will take effect immediately and be in place for the following five days due to the urgent situation.

The eight district administrations each issued their own curfew declaration orders.