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Police: Instigators hijacked students’ stir in Manipur
A tense calm rippled through Manipur on Wednesday, dotted by sporadic clashes as security forces fanned out in the thousands to keep people off the streets.
A tense calm rippled through Manipur on Wednesday, dotted by sporadic clashes as security forces fanned out in the thousands to keep people off the streets amid a curfew in three districts and blanket internet shutdowns in five, a day after protesters and police faced off over the surge in violence.
Manipur police said “infiltrators” were hijacking Manipur’s student protests and used molotov cocktails and fired iron pellets at security forces during Tuesday’s agitations.
Meanwhile, state governor Lakshman P Acharya on Wednesday morning flew out of Imphal to Guwahati in neighbouring Assam for unspecified reasons. To be sure, Lakshman is Assam governor with additional charge of Manipur.
There was speculation that Acharya would travel to Delhi, but these remained unconfirmed.
“We are unsure about the purpose of this visit,” a senior official said.
Protests, fronted largely by students, continued across the state despite the curbs on movement and internet use.
In Imphal, S Priyanka Devi, a student protester, said the government has neglected the plight of Manipur’s people for 16 months. “I urge the central government to heed the concerns of the people of Manipur,” she said, criticising the state government’s decision to close all educational institutions.
A group of students who gathered near the City Convention Centre said they will stop attending college till the violence abates.
“We hope there is a change on the ground. Even if the government reopens colleges, students will boycott classes unless something positive happens,” said a second-year student of an engineering college who was at the protest and declined to be named.
However, people and police came to blows in some parts.
On Wednesday evening, at the Kakwa Bazar area in Imphal, forces fired teargas shells at protesters when they allegedly shot iron pellets and marbles using slingshots at them.
The market area turned a fortress as forces tried to prevent protesters from marching towards Raj Bhavan and the chief minister’s house. Security forces stood on the Indo-Myanmar road in the Kakwa Bazar area to stop protesters from moving ahead.
Manipur’s inspector general (intelligence) K Kabib said, “There were sporadic protests in some parts in Imphal. Unlike yesterday (Tuesday), the protests were largely peaceful. We request students’ groups to approach police for permission if they wish to protest. Police will help them with permission where they can voice their grievances peacefully.”
At a press conference in Imphal, Manipur Police showed samples of molotov cocktails, slingshots and iron pellets that protesters allegedly used on Tuesday.
“Instigators, who are not students, hijacked the protests. These people are not students but have come from other districts. They even fired shots on Tuesday…They want to cause violence and then disrupt law and order,” said Kabib.
Manipur police did not identify the alleged “instigators”.
At least 76 protesters were injured in the violence on Tuesday, he added.
“We urge local Meira Paibis (a collective of Meitei women) to ensure that if there is a protest, they should identify the outsiders,” said the officer.
Clashes in the conflict-ridden state have dialled up significantly this month, with militants turning to modern weaponry like drones and rockets, adding a fresh layer of violence to the ongoing use of rifles and grenades.
Ten people have died since September 1, of whom 1 was killed in a drone attack and another died after a high range rocket was launched at his village. A former army soldier was stabbed and beaten to death. The others were stabbed or killed in gunfights.
