The state’s ban on internet services was extended by the Manipur administration on Saturday till June 15. According to a directive from Commissioner (Home) T. Ranjit Singh, mobile data services, including internet, have been suspended till 3 p.m. on June 15.
With the most recent extension, Manipur’s residents have been without internet access for more than a month.
After ethnic violence broke out between tribal people and non-tribal people in a number of districts throughout the state on May 3, the Manipur government first announced the suspension of internet services.
The order was issued a day after the Supreme Court turned down a request for an expedited hearing on a petition filed by two state residents protesting the ongoing internet outages.
Since May 3, internet services have been prohibited across the state after fighting between the Kuki and Meitei tribes broke out following a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ that was staged in the hill areas to oppose the Meitei community’s desire for Scheduled Tribe (ST) designation.
The commissioner’s decision stated that ‘anti-social elements’ might utilise social media to disseminate hate speech and provoke the public, having major consequences for the state’s law and order situation.
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