Lilong: Following a violent arson attack targeting a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary, strict prohibitory measures have been imposed by authorities in Manipur’s Thoubal district in Lilong. District administration asked people to stop holding more than four-person gatherings and carrying arms, swords, sticks, stones or any other lethal or sharp-edged objects. It is in response to rising tensions following a mob allegedly setting fire to BJP state minority wing chief Asker Ali’s residence in the early hours of Sunday evening.
Officials said that a mob of about 7,000 to 8,000 people, wielding batons and stones, stormed Ali’s home at 6:30 PM and set it ablaze after breaking in and vandalizing it. Ali reportedly antagonised the mob through social media posts in support of a new law that brings radical changes to the way Islamic charitable endowments, or Waqf, are regulated and administered. Locals of Muslim-majority areas have lodged outrage at the legislation.
Ali later gave an apology for his support of the law in a video on social media after the attack, saying he regretted it and asked the central government to repeal the law. Protests in the region have further escalated in the wake of the incident and there were earlier huge demonstrations throughout Muslim-dominated areas of Sora, Mayang Imphal, Kshetri Awang Leikai and Lilong in Thoubal district, and Imphal East. Demonstrators marched from Lilong Bazar to Lilong Haoreibi College in Lilong, where the protest was the largest.
When it invoked Section 163(2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, District Magistrate A Subhash Singh said the possibility of more unrest existed. The order does not apply to law enforcement and essential service personnel. Authorities are keeping a close eye on the situation to ensure peace and order, and the tension remains high.
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