Indian northeastern state reopens schools, restores internet after ethnic clashes

New Delhi (AFP): Schools reopened in India’s northeastern state of Manipur on Tuesday, 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.

The violence has since abated, and a government order said “normal classes will resume for all schools in the state” starting Tuesday, a day after internet services were restored.

“I urge everyone to use the internet responsibly and refrain from sharing or posting any unnecessary or inflammatory content that may disturb the peace and harmony,” state chief minister Biren Singh said.

Long-standing tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities revolve around competition for land and public jobs.

Rights activists have accused local leaders of exacerbating ethnic divisions for political gain.

Manipur is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.