Lagatar24 Desk
Imphal, July 25: The state’s home department announced in an order that broadband services had been restarted in Manipur on Tuesday under particular terms and with a user commitment that had to be signed.
Mobile data service is still not available in Manipur state, yet.
The government declared a shutdown in reaction to the rising ethnic strife between the minority Kuki tribe and the Meitei group, which makes up the bulk of the population. The internet was largely restored on Tuesday in the violent state after being unavailable for more than 80 days.
The decision was made after taking into account the ongoing ban on internet services that had been in effect since May 3 and that had an impact on many industries, including businesses, educational institutions, healthcare facilities and online citizen-centric services, the order said.
Specific terms and conditions, such as connectivity exclusively through static IP, disallowing Wifi hotspots, restricting social networking websites and VPNs, and daily change of login credentials, are associated with the resume of broadband service.
The government further said that any violation of these terms will result in punishment as per the relevant laws.
However, due to worries that the possible communication of misinformation and false rumours through social media platforms could compromise public safety, mobile data services continue to be blocked throughout the state of Manipur.
The decision to halt internet access was made to “thwart the design and activities of anti-national and anti-social elements” and to stop the spread of misinformation and false rumours on social media platforms, according to the Manipur government.
The Churachandpur and Pherzawl districts began the shutdown on April 28. The shutdown was extended to the entire state on May 3. A new order prolonging the closure, which affects both broadband and mobile internet services, has been passed every five days since then.
The shutdown had been in place for 80 days as of July 25. Meanwhile, more than 150 people have died as a result of the conflict in the state.
