How ‘Peaceful’ Protest Over Manipur Youths’ Deaths Turned Bloody: ‘We Were Just Students, Unarmed’

Manipur Violence

When reached by phone on Thursday, Silverstsn (who goes by a single name), a third-year Bachelor of Computer Application (BCA) student who allegedly “received severe injuries” on his back after being hit by a tea-gas shell during a protest against the alleged murder of two Meitei students in Manipur, said he was recovering in a hospital in Imphal.
Silverstsn said of the demonstration on Wednesday: “It was a nonviolent protest march, and we had no firearms. We come to voice our opposition to injustice. We are upset because two students were killed while the cops did nothing.

“But the forces opened fire [pellet gun fire], threw tear gas, and started beating up all the students,” the 22-year-old claimed. We weren’t affiliated with any one group; we were just unarmed students.

Loitongbam Kishan, a 16-year-old student in class 12, is receiving treatment at the same facility. Kishan was described as “critical” by a family acquaintance who claimed to be aware of his condition and who spoke with ThePrint on the phone.

“His right shoulder was shot. His bones are also harmed, and his muscles have been pulled, according to S.N. Meitei. The bullet became lodged in his shoulder, and he continued. The security officers fired pretty closely at him.

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The Manipur Police announced in a statement published on the social networking site X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday that there had been “several protests and rallies in connection with the viral photographs of the dead bodies of two missing students. Criminals in the crowd attacked security personnel with iron objects and stones (marbles). Security personnel shot some tear gas rounds at the crowd in retaliation, causing some injuries. They employed the least amount of force possible.

According to sources in the Manipur Police, the police have also filed a number of cases against the “miscreants”.

Kavya Bhatt