Schools, colleges in Manipur districts with curfew to remain closed for indefinite period

The Manipur government on Tuesday announced an extension of the closure of all schools and colleges in districts, where curfew is in place, from November 27 for an indefinite period.

The educational institutes in Imphal East and West, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Kakching and Jiribam will continue to remain closed from Wednesday until further orders.

Schools and colleges in these districts have remained closed since November 16 after the dead bodies of three women and three children in Jiribam were recovered from the Jiri and Barak rivers in Manipur and Assam respectively.

An order issued by the Directorate of Education said, “All schools of the state government and government-aided, private and central schools located in valley districts will continue to remain closed from November 27, 2024 till further order.”

A separate order stated that the "government educational institutions, government-aided colleges under the Higher and Technical Education Department, including state universities, located in the districts where curfew has been imposed, shall continue to be closed until further orders."

Meanwhile, curfew has been relaxed in all five valley districts and Jiribam from 5 am to 12 noon to enable people to purchase essential items and medicines, according to orders issued by the district magistrates.

However, sit-ins, rallies and gatherings without obtaining prior approval from competent authority will not be allowed during the relaxation period, the orders said.

The extension of the closure of educational institutes was announced after Imphal Valley-based civil society organisation Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) decided to observe a "shutdown" of offices of the state and the central governments for two days from Wednesday, demanding removal of AFSPA and an operation against suspected Kuki militants.

COCOMI, however, exempted educational institutions from the purview of the proposed "shutdown".

Violence escalated in Manipur after three women and three children belonging to the Meitei community had gone missing from a relief camp in Jiribam after a gunfight between security forces and suspected Kuki-Zo militants resulted in the deaths of 10 insurgents on November 11. Bodies of those six were later found.

More than 250 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May last year.