Manipur: 10 agitators, 3 cops injured in clashes during protest against arrest of human rights activist

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Haokip, 37, was arrested by a team of Manipur police from his temporary residence in Delhi’s Kishangarh on Tuesday at around 2:30 pm in connection with three FIRs registered against him last year.

Shivakanta Singh, Superintendent of Police Imphal West district, said Haokip was arrested for promoting communal disharmony among other charges under Section 153(a)/505(2). The SP said Haokip is still in Delhi and will be brought back to Imphal very soon.

Following his arrest, a group of Hoakip’s supporters converged at the Tuibong ground to take out a peace rally demanding his release. The protestors, bearing placards and chanting “release Mark Haokip”, “we want justice” and “where is the law” slogans, headed towards the Deputy Commissioner’s Office in Churachandpur. However, a clash broke out between the police and the agitators.

The police said the agitators turned violent and pelted stones after they were denied to hold the protest due to the absence of a permit from the district authority. “To disperse the mob, security personnel were compelled to fire tear gas,” said the police.

Mang Vaiphei, a member of the IHRA, claimed that the agitators were holding a peaceful protest when they were stopped by the police. Vaiphei further said that the district authority had denied permission to the protest despite their repeated requests.

The IHRA in a statement alleged that Section 153(a) of the IPC was gravely misused by the Manipur government. “The arrest at most is an apparent bias of the Government of Manipur against the Kukis, implicit in the majoritarian shift of Manipur Government towards a Meitei-centric Government,” alleged the IHRA.

The statement asserted that the case against Mark Haokip is “unambiguously” a fitting reply with regards to the Kukis being called as foreigners and refugees by some valley-based group. It further said that the arrest is nothing but an infringement on Haokip’s right to freedom of expression.

It questioned why the groups who tagged Kukis as foreigners and refugees were not arrested when Mark Haokip was arrested for his social media comment based on historical documents.

While it remains unclear for which particular social media post Haokip was arrested, the IHRA member said he was arrested for commenting on Manipur’s merger agreement. Haokip had pointed out that the actual size of the erstwhile kingdom of Manipur when it merged into the Indian Union was just 700 sq miles, said the IHRA.

Earlier on Sunday, the officer-in-charge of the Churachandpur police station had summoned the IHRA president to record his statement in connection with the FIRs lodged against him based on the complaint/information of Inspector Thangzamuan in July last year.

The summons had invited a massive protest in front of the Churachandpur police station led by the IHRA Youth Wing, resulting in the arrest of around five of the protestors.