Manipur crisis: Women, students take out rallies; demand peace, end to violence

With a fresh bout of violence aggravating the situation in restive Manipur, women and children have taken to the streets demanding concrete measures to bring back normalcy to the north-eastern state.

Holding torches in hand, women took out a protest rally on Sunday (September 8) night in Imphal, decrying the “failure” of the central and the state governments in quelling the violence in the state.

The protests come in the wake of recent drone attacks and firing in the state’s Jiribam district in which at least five people lost their lives.

Tear gas shells fired at protesters

Heavy police deployment was made as the protesters chanted slogans demanding government intervention to resolve the crisis.

Security forces fired several rounds of tear gas shells to disperse protesters after the rally reached closer to the Raj Bhavan and the Chief Minister’s bungalow in Imphal.

Thousands of people marched more than 3 km along the Tiddim Road and moved towards the high-security zone when the police stopped them.

A contingent of state and central forces erected barricades on the road to prevent anyone from proceeding further. They also fired tear gas shells to disperse the protestors.

The spot is close to the police headquarters, the state secretariat and the BJP office.

Protesters demand justice, removal of top cop

The protesters sat on the road at Keisampat and raised slogans condemning the recent drone attacks by suspected militants and the “inability” of the authorities to arrest anyone involved in the incident.

They shouted slogans demanding removal of the state director general of police for allegedly failing to stop drone attacks.

Students hit the streets

School students also staged a massive agitation demanding the government to restore normalcy in the state.

Many students narrated how the conflict, which has dragged on for 16 months now, has not only put their lives and that of their loves ones at stake, but also hampered their education.

“It is very difficult for us study,” said a student who was participating in a protest in Imphal.

‘Our mind has been distracted’

The students chanted slogans calling for peace and unity while urging authorities to restore Manipur’s “integrity”.

“We all students urge authorities to stop the war…to stop the prevailing situation. We have heard that bombs are being dropped in a village of Meiteis. This is a very critical situation for Meiteis community. Our mind has been distracted because of this all and so we would want to stop it (sic),” a school student who participated in a rally by students told Money Control.

The students have urged authorities to take steps towards ending the violence in the state and creating a safer environment where they can study without fear.

Meanwhile, the N Biren Singh government has ordered the shutdown of schools (government, government-aided, private and central government) on September 9 and 10 in the wake of the recent violence.

Fresh spate of violence

Five people were killed in Jiribam district on Friday. According to police, militants entered the house of a person and shot him dead in his sleep. Following the murder, a heavy exchange of fire broke out between members of the warring communities, leading to the deaths of four armed men.

Ethnically diverse Jiribam, which was largely untouched by the ethnic clashes in Imphal Valley and adjoining hills, erupted in violence after a 59-year-old man belonging to one community was killed allegedly by militants of another community in June.

Thousands had to relocate to relief camps due to incidents of arson by both sides. A CRPF jawan was also killed in an ambush by militants in mid-July.

Use of drones

The use of the remote-controlled small flying device as a weapon was first seen in Manipur on September 1 in Koutruk village in the Imphal West district. In the attack, in which guns were also used, two persons were killed and nine others injured.

Drones were used again in Senjam Chirang, around 3 km away, the next day, injuring three persons.