Manipur police on Tuesday issued an order to conditionally lift the internet ban which has been in place since May 3 – the day ethnic clashes broke out in the state.
However, only broadband internet has been allowed, with a clutch of restrictions, with mobile internet services continuing to be suspended. The state isn’t prepared nor has the mechanism for effective control of cellular data services, the order by Manipur Commissioner (Home), T Ranjit Singh, reasoned.
Singh, in the order, said police are still apprehensive that mobile internet could be used to spread disinformation and false rumours through social media platforms, which could disrupt the law-and-order situation. Critics have argued that the absence of the internet actually allows atrocities to continue unchecked, and offer as evidence the viral video of women being paraded naked that emerged last week, shaming a nation, and forcing the state police to act – almost two-and-half months after the incident.
According to the officer’s order, the ban was revoked because it was affecting work across sectors, including health and education, and also not allowing people to work from home. The order also provides for an undertaking to be given by broadband users to allow physical monitoring by officials.
{{/usCountry}}According to the officer’s order, the ban was revoked because it was affecting work across sectors, including health and education, and also not allowing people to work from home. The order also provides for an undertaking to be given by broadband users to allow physical monitoring by officials.
{{/usCountry}}The order lists 10 different conditions which users have to abide before using the broadband internet service: the connections will only be through static ID; no WiFi or hotspots to be allowed from any of the routers; social media websites and VPNs will have to be blocked at the local level with this being ensured by the subscriber concerned; all existing VPNs will have to be removed; and no new software or VPN app can be added.
Experts and internet activists described the conditions as restrictive.
Apar Gupta, lawyer and executive director of Internet Freedom Foundation, said the ban was lifted for a “small and negligible number” of users. “Wireline will prefer institutional and users on higher income groups that comprise a “tiny” number of users of the total pie. Even for them severe restrictions include banning WiFi hotspots, social media, VPNs. Also includes ‘enforced social monitoring’ that can mean anything,” he tweeted.
“It is my firm believe that the internet shutdown is to serve state interest in avoiding accountability and contouring the media ecology that any evidentiary law and order objective,” he added.
However, even the partial lifting of restrictions would appear to be without the backing of the state police.
Officials in Manipur police believe that the resumption of internet services is likely to result in people from the state sending photos and videos of the clashes that started on May 3 and is continuing till date. Around 150 people have died and nearly 50,000 have been displaced from their homes in the last two months. People in the state have recorded photos of the arson at the villages, schools, temples, churches and also that of bodies of those killed by mob across different parts of Manipur.
“There are some people who want to fan tension by circulating hate messages or photographs. People are already using doctored images of incidents that are not related to Manipur even remotely. Such photos and messages can disrupt the law and order. Resumption of internet completely won’t be a wise decision at this moment. Some are also targeting security forces and police personnel. Police have already floated a helpline number where people can call and verify rumours,” a senior police officer, privy to the police’s law and order meetings, said on condition of anonymity.
Last week, one such video of an incident in B Phainom village in Thoubal district, where three women were stripped, paraded naked by a mob, surfaced on social media. While the crime took place on May 4, Manipur police began its probe and made the first arrest on July 20, only after a horrific 30-second video of the incident went viral. The video showed the men – identified in a first information report (FIR) as Meiteis – hooting and applauding as they groped the victims. Police have so far arrested seven people, including one minor in the case. Another video of a woman’s mutilated charred body and that of a man who was murdered and beheaded by a mob were also widely shared.
In the last one week, police have filed FIRs against “unknown persons” for allegedly circulating false rumours and fake news on social media platforms to disrupt the fragile law and order in the state.
Since May 3, Manipur has been gripped by ethnic clashes – primarily between the tribal Kukis, which mostly reside in the hill districts, and majority Meiteis, the dominant community in Imphal Valley. Clashes first broke out on May 3 in Churachandpur town after Kuki groups called for protests against a proposed tweak to the state’s reservation matrix, granting scheduled tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community. Violence quickly engulfed the state where ethnic fault lines run deep, displacing tens of thousands of people who fled burning homes and neighbourhoods into jungles, often across state borders.