Manipur: Government lifts ban on use of broadband internet

The government of Manipur state has partially lifted a ban on broadband internet for the first time since violence erupted on May 3, and led to a state-wide internet shutdown.

Following a court ruling directing the Manipur government to explore extending special benefits enjoyed by the Kuki-Zo people to the Meitei community as well, ethnic conflict has erupted between the predominantly Hindu Meitei and the predominantly Christian Kuki-Zo groups, engulfing the isolated state.

The Manipur government announced on July 25 that it would resume providing broadband service, subject to a number of restrictions, including the requirement that all connections be made using static internet protocol (IP) addresses. This means that users will not be permitted to occasionally change their IP addresses.

However, mobile internet, social media websites and VPN services will remain suspended.

A number of additional conditions and checks, which will ensure that the state is able to monitor user identity and usage, are part of the order issued in the capital Imphal.

Outrage and criticism were sparked by the publication of a graphic video showing two women in the northeastern state being sexually assaulted in broad daylight.

Human rights organisations have attacked the May 3 state-wide internet outage, claiming that it prevented the world from “seeing the true extent of human rights violations” occurring in Manipur.