This time, the Manipur government did not resort to banning the internet services in the wake of possible conflagration of riots over the January 1 Lilong incident in which four people were killed and several injured. Rather, the state government and frontline civil society organisations put to good use internet services and the social network to appeal for sanity among the tense general public while containing the violence in the general area of the incident only.
The said incident happened in a Muslim dominated locality and those killed or injured are all Muslims or Meitei Pangals while the intruders were suspected to be from the Meitei community and rumours were flying around. As the state is presently embroiled in ethnic clashes and enmity between Kukis and Meiteis, nobody wanted another communal riot between Meiteis and Meitei Pangals to erupt once again. The 1993 Meitei-Meitei Pangal also started in the Lilong area and it left more than 100 people dead. Ever since, both the communities and its representative CSOs had been working hard to maintain the peace and work together.
Yet when violence broke out on January 1 in the Lilong area, all forces were working overtime to keep the violence from spreading further. While curfew relaxations were lifted and complete curfew restrictions imposed immediately in all the valley districts, the Chief Minister N Biren Singh himself came out with a video message appealing to all to maintain calm and sanity and it was widely circulated in the social media.
He also promised swift action from the government to nab the culprits involved in the incident, although it was taken with a pinch of salt by the general public as his promises of swift action ‘Lemna Thaaroi’ had become quite legendary in recent times. He called up leaders of CSOs to make similar appeals through social media and many followed suit. Meira Paibi leaders and CSO representatives also made joint appeals through social media to maintain sanity.
CM Biren along with his colleagues visited the injured at the hospitals and went to homes of those killed and injured to console their family and relatives while also calming the general public gathered there. And finally after no untoward incident was reported, orders for relaxation of curfew restrictions from Wednesday were issued. Well, it is called good crisis management from him and we must congratulate him for that along with a prayer that he may continue to do so, and not to feel disappointed or offended when his actions are criticized. Because, criticism goes with the job.
Now the question is why such a response did not happen during the Kuki-Meitei clashes. When the ethnic clashes first broke out on May 3, the state government imposed a complete ban on internet services until it was lifted recently. The idea then was to keep a check on the violence and rumours from spreading further. But as days went on, the ban became useless as many found ways to circumvent or go around the ban and restrictions. It was even reported that hackers were hired in Churachandpur by people with vested interests to spread the hate campaign.
The internet ban was gradually lifted in phases only after the intervention of the court and further pressure from several student organisations and CSOs. The student bodies debated the pros and cons of the government’s prolonged ban on mobile internet and claimed that the ban is ineffective either in triggering or quelling the unrest. Finally, the ban was lifted after more than six months while the repercussions and impact are still being felt. Now with the present response after the Lilong incident, one may ask if it is safe to assume that the state government has learnt its lessons. Let us hope so.
