An indefinite curfew has been imposed in Imphal, the capital city of Manipur, since the night of February 11, 2019, amidst the backdrop of raging protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Mobile internet services have also been suspended indefinitely across the state. The step was taken as a pre-emptive measure by the state government after the bill was listed in the revised list of business in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday by the Business Advisory Committee. The legislation, however, could not be taken up as the Upper House was adjourned till Wednesday.
Security was strengthened across strategic locations in the state, especially at the residences of MLAs and ministers, including that of Chief Minister N Biren Singh. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 have been put into effect. Police also made frequent announcements, asking people to stay indoors.
District Magistrate Naorem Praveen Singh barred local cable news channels from “transmission… of agitation or protest”, in Imphal West, in an order on February 11. He invoked powers under Section 19 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 to “prohibit transmission or re-transmission of agitation/ protest of any form, inflammatory speech and/ or public discourse that may incite violence, and/ or any programme which may lead to breach of public peace and tranquility in the interest of the general public”.
Pradip Phanjoubam, editor of the Imphal Free Press said, “The government is paranoid. They are silencing any dissident voice. I think the government is edgy and touchy and they have been arresting anyone criticizing them,”.
Meanwhile, A 36-hour bandh, called by 72 civil society organizations under the Peoples’ Alliance Manipur (PAM) has been in effect from Monday morning, across the state. Notwithstanding the curfew, anti-bill protests continued on Tuesday with women vendors at the Ima Market in Imphal staging a sit-in against the proposed legislation. Women protesters also staged roadblocks and formed human chains, burning effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the valley districts of Thoubal, Bishnupur, Kakching, and Jiribam. A large number of women blocked the Imphal-Moreh highway at Thobul and demanded the resignation of all the 60 MLAs of the state Legislative Assembly.
Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu and his Manipur counterpart N Biren Singh met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi on Monday and requested him not to table the Bill in the Upper House. The meeting was held in the presence of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju. Singh assured them that their concerns will be addressed and the Centre “stands with the people of the northeast”.
In the meantime, a Congress delegation headed by former Manipur CM Okram Ibobi Singh held a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Tuesday, demanding the withdrawal of the bill. While in Mizoram, former Chief Minister and state Congress chief Lal Thanhawla, took part in a protest on Tuesday and held a placard which said “Hello Independent Republic of Mizoram”.
“If the Centre goes on like this, without listening to the people of the North-East, we may be reluctantly driven to the extreme — not just Mizoram but the entire North-East… If the central government cannot protect our rights, we have to fight for our own rights,” he said.
Assam and other North-Eastern states are riled up and have been in a state of disquiet, for quite some time now, over the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill which seeks to relax Indian citizenship eligibility rules for immigrants belonging to six minority religions — Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from the neighboring countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The indigenous people of the region fear that if the law is enacted, it will lead to a deluge of immigrants from these countries and will endanger their livelihood and identity.