Amid intermittent violence, Manipur extends internet suspension for 10th time

Manipur government on Tuesday extended the suspension of internet services for the 10th time till June 25, to prevent the spread of rumours

Imphal: As sporadic incidents of violence continued, the Manipur government on Tuesday extended the suspension of internet services for the 10th time till June 25, to prevent the spread of rumours and videos, photos, and messages, which might affect the law and order situation.

Manipur Home Department Commissioner T. Ranjit Singh, in a notification said that to thwart the designs and activities of anti-national and anti-social elements and to maintain peace and communal harmony, it has become necessary to take adequate measures to maintain law and order.

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An official of the Manipur High Court on Tuesday said that in an interim order, the High Court directed the state authorities to provide limited internet services to the public in some designated places under the control of the state authorities.

The High Court’s observation came on a Public Interest Litigation filed by different individuals. It will now hear the case again on June 23.

The High Court division bench comprising Justice Ahanthem Bimol Singh and Justice A. Guneshwar Sharma, directed the service providers of Vodafone, Idea, Jio, BSNL and Airtel to file a short affidavit explaining whether there is any possibility of providing limited internet services to the public by blocking social media, websites and by assuaging the concern of the state government to maintain law and order.

Taking into consideration the hardship faced by the public specially with regard to the ongoing admission process of the students in the state and to enable the people to carry out urgent and essential tasks, the high court directed the state authorities to provide limited internet service in some designated places under the control of the state authorities.

The Manipur Human Rights Commission (MHRC) earlier asked the state government to consider restoration of internet services which had been suspended since the ethnic violence broke out on May 3.

MHRC chairperson Justice Utpalendu Bikash Saha and member K.K. Singh, in an order asked the Home Commissioner to consider restoration of internet services in Manipur.

The rights panel issued the order following a complaint by Kammingthang Hangshingan, an Aizawl resident, about the suspension of internet services in Churachandpur district of Manipur last month. The complaint called it a “human rights violation”.

Various organisations, including the opposition Congress, have been demanding immediate restoration of internet services in Manipur.

Chongtham Victor Singh, an advocate with the Manipur High Court, recently filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the mechanical and repeated shutdown of the internet in Manipur.

The petition said the government claimed that the state was returning to normal, but continued to suspend the internet services.

As people have been facing shortage of various essentials, transport fuel, cooking gas and life-saving drugs, disruption in banking and online facilities affecting normal life for the past many weeks, the Internet suspension for around 50 days across the mountainous state further added to the misery of the people.