Along with a number of other petitions pertaining to violence in Manipur, the Supreme Court will hear a petition tomorrow that challenges the Manipur High Court judgment that enabled the restoration of internet access in the state in a restricted capacity.
The state government was directed by the Manipur High Court to remove the internet ban on Internet Lease Line (ILL) and Fibre To The Home (FTTH) connections in the state on July 7 after confirming that all parties have complied with the safety precautions recommended by an expert committee.
Suggestions made by the expert committee
The committee proposed allowing a small number of specifically designated and whitelisted mobile numbers to get internet access from all service providers operating in Manipur. The Home Department of the Government of Manipur will provide these numbers, and the internet service will be restricted to the listed mobile phones, with no chance of leakage or illegal access.
Furthermore, according to a LiveLaw study, broadband internet service may be offered with certain security measures in place.
The Meitei tribe, which predominates in the valley, demanded Scheduled Tribes (ST) designation, which led to horrendous bloodshed between the hill-majority Kuki tribe and the valley-majority Meiteis on May 3.
Manipur conflict
In the meanwhile, the court ruled that they cannot seize control of the law-and-order machinery due to the ongoing unrest in Manipur. The court said, “It is for the Centre, Manipur government to ensure security.” It went on to say that it might order the government to improve the situation in Manipur and urged various organizations to provide helpful advice.
The bench told various Manipur groups in front of it, as it took note of the status report submitted by the state chief secretary on the situation prevailing in the violent state, “Give us some positive suggestions by Tuesday to make the situation better and we will ask the Center and the Manipur government to look into it.”
Following deadly nighttime confrontations, further violence broke out in Manipur on Monday, killing at least one police officer and injured ten others. According to the authorities, the shooting was directed towards hills and villages in the Kangchup region of the Kangpokpi district.
