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NEW DELHI: A partial internet shutdown was in place in northeastern India’s troubled Manipur state on Tuesday (Apr 7) after renewed violence caused the deaths of four people, including two children, officials said.<\/p>\n
Manipur has seen periodic clashes for nearly three years between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community. The conflicts have killed more than 250 people.<\/p>\n
The latest flare-up on Tuesday came after months of relative peace and followed a reported attack by Kuki groups that killed two Meitei children in Bishnupur district, according to a security official and another government official.<\/p>\n
An incensed Meitei mob later stormed a paramilitary police camp, leading soldiers to open fire and resulting in the deaths of two more people, two officials told AFP. Another five were wounded.<\/p>\n
The local government said it had ordered all internet and mobile data services in volatile districts to be shut off for five days to bring the unrest under control.<\/p>\n
Authorities also announced a curfew in some areas, including Bishnupur and the state capital Imphal.<\/p>\n
The reported Kuki attack “appears to be the handiwork of individuals or groups with vested interests in disturbing the prevailing peace in the state”, read a statement issued by the office of Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh.<\/p>\n
A “massive combing operation is underway” to apprehend the perpetrators, the statement said.<\/p>\n
“Helicopters are also being used,” it added.<\/p>\n
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a Kuki civil society body, said the attack “should not be attributed” to the community.<\/p>\n
Internet services were shut down for months in Manipur during the initial outbreak of violence in 2023, which displaced around 60,000 people from their homes, according to government figures.<\/p>\n
Thousands of the state’s residents are still unable to return home owing to ongoing tensions.<\/p>\n
Longstanding enmity between the Meitei and Kuki communities revolves around competition for land and public jobs.<\/p>\n
Rights activists have accused local leaders of exacerbating ethnic divisions for political gain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n