The other day, Manipur Police blamed unknown instigators who were acting behind Tuesday’s student protests at Khwairamband Bazar and Kakwa in Imphal West which turned into confrontations with the security forces. Speaking to the media at the Police headquarters in Imphal, IGP (Int) K Kabib claimed that the protests, originally intended as peaceful demonstrations, spiralled into violent confrontations with involvement of instigators involving firearms at Kakwa and the use of petrol bombs at Khwairamband Bazar.
Incidents also included the deployment of sling shots with iron and stone projectiles, he added. The clashes resulted in injuries to over 70 students and more than 10 police personnel, including a VDF personnel, he informed, expressing concerns over the involvement of juveniles in these protests. Emphasising that many students involved were underage, he questioned the guardianship of these juveniles, urging parents to prevent their wards from staying overnight at protest sites, possibly under coercion from external elements.
"The students do not initiate violence on their own," IGP Kabib stated, highlighting the role of non-local instigators in instigating unrest. This statement or clarification might sound normal, in the sense that there are always some elements or mischief makers out to create mayhem and chaos in the society. But we need to go back on the way the student protests on Monday were dealt with by police and their contradictory demands. First, protesting students were stopped from proceeding further near Sanjenthong bridge, but they were allowed to proceed towards Minuthong bridge and gather at Khuyathong near the DM college campus.
As their original target was to proceed towards Raj Bhavan and seek an audience with the state Governor to press their number one demand which was handing over the leadership of Unified Command to the chief minister. But the students' procession if allowed to cross Sanjenthong, had to pass the chief minister’s Secretariat at Babupara enroute to Raj Bhavan.
Allowing that would have raised suspicions, as the Chief Minister and his loyal MLAs including ministers had just submitted a list of demands to the Governor with handing over of Unified Command to the Chief Minister N Biren Singh at the top. To cut short, the demands of the students that day echoed the demands of the chief minister and his supporters. So, a different route for the student protestors had to be opened. Hence the Khuyathong point where student protestors from all sides gathered.
From Khuyathong, the students rallied on the Nagamapal Road and after passing BT Road, they proceeded onwards unhindered to culminate in front of Raj Bhavan. Not a single tear gas or smoke bomb was fired to check the defiance of the silent zone around Raj Bhavan in the beginning. Surprisingly, the demands of the student protestors were contradictory. While they demanded the handing over of Unified Command to the chief minister they also demanded that all the MLAs (albeit of course the chief minister) resign.
Some leaders of the protestors also met the chief minister and pressed their demands. It was only in the later part of the day that police reacted with teargas and smoke bombs after the protestors got violent by pelting stones and using slingshots. The protestors had also refused to move from their positions near the Raj Bhavan, setting a deadline for handing over the Unified Command to the chief minister.
After they were dispersed from the Raj Bhavan area, the students gathered at the Khwairamband Market to halt the night and wait for their demand for Unified Command control to be fulfilled. Next day, the students and other protestors rose again, leading to curfew and banning of the internet. In these circumstances, it is being understood that the state police already know who the instigators are. Might be difficult for them to spell out, but the signs and motive is clear.
