Mob defies curfew, 40 injured in forces’ Manipur crackdown

Imphal: Local groups defied prohibitory restrictions and tried to remove army barricades in Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Wednesday, sparking clashes that left over 40 injured according to news agency PTI, hours after the administration clamped curfew in five Valley districts to stave off violence.

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The clashes were reported from Phougakchao Ikhai bazaar, 52 km south of Imphal, along the Imphal-Churachandpur route, after the crowd gathered in response to a call by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a Meitei civil society organisation, to remove security barricades at Phougakchao Ikhai village.

COCOMI has sought the removal of the barricades from Meitei-inhabited areas in Phougakchao Ikhai village up to Torbung, another Meitei-inhabited village, along the border of Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts. The groups says this is needed for the resettlement of community members who have been displaced in the ongoing ethnic violence that has lasted four months.

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On Tuesday, the state government hurriedly clamped full curfew in Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur, Kakching and Thoubal till further orders in apprehension of law and order violations.

State information and public relations minister S Ranjan Singh on Tuesday night made an appeal to COCOMI to withdraw their plan, saying most of the barricades in villagearea were removed, people aware of the matter said.

But the crowd on Wednesday was defiant as it tried to march towards Phougakchao Ikhai to remove the barricades around 3pm, the officials cited above said. They were stopped by state police forces, the officials added.

As the crowd tried to breach the barricades, police fired a few rounds of teargas shells in a bid to disperse the crowd. Over 40 people, including a video journalist, were injured in the firing, the officials said, according to news agency PTI.

While some of the injured people were rushed to a hospital at Bishnupur district headquarters, others were referred to hospitals in Imphal for treatment. Their condition is stable, the officials said.

A statement released by police control room said, “On 6.9.2023, there was a congregation of a large crowd at Kwakta, Bishnupur with an intend to proceed towards Torbung area to remove barricade/bunker. However, security forces intervened and disperse the crowd.”

According to news agency PTI, Apunba Manipur Kanba Ima Lup (AMKIL) president Lourembam Nganbi told reporters, “Hundreds of Meiteis, who fled their homes at Torbung after violence broke out on May 3, are unable to visit their homes because of the barricades. We are just demanding that those be shifted so that people can visit their homes.”COCOMI had called upon the people to storm the barricades as their repeated requests to the government to remove those by August 30 had fallen on deaf ears.

At least 163 people have died in various instances of violence and more than 50,000 displaced ever since the ethnic violence between the dominant Meiteis and tribal Kukis erupted in the northeastern state on May 3.