The Manipur government on Wednesday, May 3, imposed a complete shutdown on mobile internet services across the state for five days following violent clashes in various parts of the state. The ban came a day after violence erupted as thousands of people participated in a solidarity march called by tribal groups in all the 10 hill districts of the state to protest the call for the inclusion of the majority Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.
According to an EastMojo report, the All Tribal Students Union of Manipur (ATSUM) had given the call for the march to express dissent to the “persistent demands of the Meitei community for its inclusion in the ST category.”
This is not the first time that the internet was banned in an Indian state this year. In fact in 2022, India topped the global list of internet shut-offs as per a report by Access Now and the KeepItOn coalition.
According to the report published by Access Now, a New York-based group that tracks internet freedom, out of the 187 internet shutdowns worldwide, India reported the highest 84 incidents.
A look at recent incidents of internet shutdown in India
1. Prayagraj: Following the twin murders of gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother, internet services in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj were shut down. The ban along with Section 144 was imposed on April 16. The internet was restored two days later in a phased manner across the city.
2. Sambalpur: A complete ban on internet services was imposed in the Sambalpur city of Odisha on April 13 following incidents of violence during the Hanuman Jayanti rally. Section 144 was imposed along with the internet ban to prevent further violence and spread of misinformation.
3. Jamshedpur: Internet services were shut down for 19 hours in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, on April 10 in the aftermath of communal clashes. Violence, stone-pelting, and arson were reported from the Shastrinagar area in Jamshedpur following which Section 144 was imposed to restore normalcy.
4. Bihar: Internet services were suspended in several districts of Bihar on April 1 for 48 hours following the Ram Navami violence that left several people injured, including six with bullet injuries. Section 144 was also imposed in the Nalanda and Sasaram districts in Bihar.
5. Punjab: Internet access was blocked in Punjab for 4-5 days starting from March 18 as the police launched a manhunt to nab radical Sikh preacher, Amritpal Singh. Later the internet services were restored on March 21 in a phased manner barring in some districts.
6. Rajasthan and Haryana: On February 28, internet services in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, and adjoining areas in Haryana were cut off for 48 hours to curb spread of misinformation. The move came after two men were allegedly murdered by members of a cow vigilante group.
7. Rajasthan: The internet services were shut off in eight cities of Rajasthan, including Jaipur, on February 25, to prevent the leak of a question paper of the government teachers’ recruitment exam.
The state government took the decision to suspend internet services for 24-36 hours after 39 people were detained for allegedly solving and attempting to leak the question paper in Jodhpur.
8. Jharkhand: On February 16, internet services were suspended in Panki of Palamu district in Jharkhand following a dispute between two parties on Mahashivratri festival.
Incidents of stone pelting and arson were reported following which the administration imposed the restrictions.
9. Rajasthan: A complete ban on internet services was imposed in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, for 48 hours from November 24-26, 2022, after a Muslim man was shot dead and his brother was wounded in an attack.
Family members of the victims and their supporters vandalised the hospital, after which the administration imposed the shutdown to curb spread of misinformation and further violence.
10. Meghalaya: In November 2022, the Meghalaya government ordered a complete shutdown of internet services in the seven violence hit districts of the state. The decision to impose a ban for five days came after violence broke out in the bordering areas of Assam and Meghalaya in which six people were killed.
