Students in Manipur impose indefinite economic blockade on NH2 to protest mobile Internet ban
SDSA demands lifting of ban in Senapati district, which it considers a "peace zone"
In order to protest the state of Manipur's restriction on mobile Internet services, a group of students there have placed an indefinite "economic blockade" on NH2.
The Senapati District Students' Association (SDSA) gave the Manipur government a 24-hour deadline to lift the ban on mobile Internet services before imposing a blockade on the crucial Dimapur-Senapati-Imphal National Highway 2 starting at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
NH2 runs through Senapati district on its 203 kilometer journey from Dimapur, Nagaland, to Imphal. In Manipur, it is seen as essential for getting around and transporting cargo.
Only commercial cars have been impacted by the obstruction, which began its second day on Friday afternoon, according to a Senapati resident.
The SDSA said that the extension of the Internet restriction in "our district where there is currently no law-and-order situation" was what led to the blockage.
The SDSA requested that the government relax the prohibition since it views Senapati, which has a Naga majority, as a "peace zone." The group is of the opinion that every citizen should have unhindered access to the Internet as a "fundamental right." The Meitei-Kuki war has received little support from the Naga community.
Due to the "improved" law-and-order situation, mobile Internet services had been fully reinstated in the state after 143 days on October 23. However, after three days, due to intense protests in the Imphal valley, after the images of the two deceased Meitei students who had vanished from Imphal on July 6 surfaced on social media.
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