Two Manipur districts gets relaxation from curfew

Authorities in ethnically charged Manipur lifted a curfew in Imphal West and Imphal East districts for seven hours on Friday, citing an improvement in the situation.

On May 3, a curfew was imposed in the two districts following the outbreak of unrest in Churachandpur and the Imphal Valley. 

Curfew was relaxed from 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. before being cancelled as new violence erupted on Wednesday. On Thursday, a 24-hour curfew was reinstated in Imphal West, Imphal East, and Bishnupur districts.

“The law-and-order situation in the district has improved, and thus the restriction on the movement of any persons outside their respective residences is hereby lifted from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Friday,” Imphal West district authorities said in an order.

According to the statement, people will not be permitted to meet for any purpose other than buying needed commodities and office work. 

Employees of the health, power, and public health engineering departments and journalists have been spared from curfew restrictions.

In a separate order, Imphal East district authorities stated that the curfew had been relaxed from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m., except in four designated places.

Ethnic violence erupted on May 3, killing 74 individuals and displacing 30,000. They began in Churachandpur after tribal Kuki organisations called for protests against a proposal to provide scheduled tribe status to the Meitei population, which is the majority. Since May 4, the army has been stationed in the state.

Thousands of security guards have been deployed to monitor the streets of major towns and outlying villages. The Internet has been shut down for three weeks.

Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, called for peace on Thursday and said he would visit the northeastern state next week to meet with all stakeholders.

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