Kathmandu(Agencies): The ethnic violence between the ‘Meitei’ and ‘Kuki’ communities in Manipur, India, which has been ongoing for the past month, has not yet subsided. Along with the escalation of violence, the government had imposed an internet shutdown in the region. However, false information is still spreading through various mediums, which further fuels the ethnic conflict.

The incident of sexual harassment on two women by a mob in Manipur gained worldwide attention. BBC reported that the images of the women being sexually harassed were old, and they were being circulated with a false narrative. When investigated, it was revealed that the woman in the images was 21-year-old Aayushi Choudhary, who was killed in Delhi.

Similarly, five memes, along with a tweet, claimed that 37 women and a child’s bodies were kept in a local hospital for postmortem. Although many tweets were made on this matter, all of those accounts were found to be new. When the authorities looked into the matter, it was revealed that Sija Hospital is a private facility and does not have the authority to conduct postmortems.

Despite the internet shutdown, misinformation continues to spread through mobile messages, as reported by BBC. The incidents of violence against women in Manipur are being mistaken for those in Myanmar.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had remained silent for a long time on the violence in Manipur, finally spoke up, saying, “There will be no tolerance for violence against the daughters of Manipur. The guilty will be immediately brought to justice.” Modi’s statement came after several days. Meanwhile, BJP leader Tejendra Pal Singh Bagga spread false information by tweeting that Abdul Khan had been arrested in connection with this incident.

Bagga’s tweet received a significant number of views. Manipur police reported that no one has been arrested in this case. The news agency ANI issued a clarification about the arrest. It stated that the tweet had been verified and that there was an error in the verification process.

Manipur is still facing unrest, as the BJP-led government has not taken any concrete steps to restore peace. In response, the opposition alliance in India has registered a motion of no confidence in the parliament. The preparations for discussions and negotiations are underway, and the date for the motion will be announced by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. As per the rules of the Lok Sabha, the motion of no confidence needs to be discussed within ten days of its registration.