Indian state reopens schools, restores internet after ethnic clashes
NEW DELHI: Schools reopened in India’s northeastern state of Manipur on Tuesday (Sep 17), more than a week after they shuttered due to deadly ethnic violence and clashes between protesters and police, the local government said.
Fighting broke out in Manipur in May 2023 between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community, an ethnic conflict that has since killed at least 200 people.
Since then, communities have splintered into rival groups across swaths of the northeastern state, which borders war-torn Myanmar.
After months of relative calm, an uptick in violence again this month saw at least 11 people killed, including by insurgents reportedly firing rockets and dropping bombs with drones.
Subsequent demonstrations by Meitei students against the fighting in the state capital Imphal turned violent, prompting the authorities to issue a curfew and an internet blackout in parts of the state.
Source: CNA