Three days after a video of a Kuki-Zomi man being burnedbegan doing the rounds on social media and Whatsapp, the Manipur government on Wednesday declared it will book and prosecute people found circulating images and videos of violence.
An order by the Governor issued through the state Home Department on Wednesday stated that the state government took circulating images of violent activities ‘very seriously and with utmost sensitivity.’ It stated that images of activities such as inflicting bodily harm and damage to public or private property are likely to facilitate the mobilisation of ‘mobs of agitators and demonstrators,’ aggravating the law and order situation in the state. The order stated that the government has decided to ‘restrain’ the spread of such images as ‘a positive step towards bringing normalcy in the State.’ It went on to say that anyone in possession of such images should approach the nearest Superintendent of Police and submit them for legal action, but if they are found to be circulating such images through social media, they shall be booked and prosecuted ‘under relevant provision of the law of land.’ It also stated that those found ‘misusing technology for inciting violence/hatred’ will be dealt with under provisions of the IT Act and the IPC.
In a separate order on Wednesday, the state government extended suspending mobile internet services in the state for another five days, stating that ‘there is apprehension that some anti-social elements might use social media extensively for transmission of images, hate speech and hate video messages inciting the passions of the public which might have serious repercussions for the law and order situation’ in Manipur. While internet services have been either completely or partially suspended in Manipur since May 3 – apart from a brief three day window between September 23 and 26 during which mobile internet services had been restored – photos and videos throwing light on crimes committed during the course of the conflict have been surfacing in intervals, keeping the strife-torn state on the boil. On July 18, a video showing two Kuki-Zomi women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted surfaced, more than two months after the incident had taken place on May 4.
Another watershed moment in the ongoing conflict was when on September 25, two photographs emerged which purportedly confirmed that two Meitei youngsters who had gone missing on July 6 had been killed. The emergence of these two photographs set off fierce protests in the state’s Meitei-dominated valley areas and in the retaliation by security forces, multiple students received pellet injuries. During these protests, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh’s personal residence had also been targeted.
On the evening of October 8, a video showing a Kuki-Zomi man’s body being burned started being circulated.
