Following a spike in interethnic violence in Manipur state, where curfews and internet blackouts have been enforced, Indian police reported on Thursday that they had arrested 33 persons.
At least 200 individuals have died as a result of the ethnic conflict that began in May 2023 in Manipur between the primarily Christian Kuki community and the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority.
Since then, populations in large parts of the northeastern state—which borders war-torn Myanmar—have split off into opposing groupings.
This month saw new conflict break out following several months of relative calm.
At least 11 people have died, including in what the police described as a “significant escalation” of violence in which rebels used drones to dump bombs and fire rockets.
As per the police statement, “33 individuals have been arrested and seven minors have been apprehended by Manipur Police in response to the violent protests that have occurred in the last few days.”
“To cooperate with law enforcement agencies in the maintenance of peace and normalcy,” it asked the public.
Authorities closed off the internet in a number of locations, duplicating a lengthy blackout that occurred last year.
In the state capital of Imphal, hundreds of people disobeyed a curfew that was also imposed by the police.
Tuesday, Meitei demonstrators marched through Imphal, demanding that security forces target Kuki insurgent groups, which they hold responsible for the recent wave of attacks.
Long-standing disputes between the Kuki and Meitei groups center on the struggle for public employment and land.
Rights campaigners charged that local authorities were using ethnic differences as a political tool.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, under by Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is in charge of Manipur.
Government estimates indicate that some 60,000 individuals were displaced from their homes due to fighting last year. Many have failed to make it back home.
