The newspaper whose copies was burned has an office in Manipur's capital Imphal (File)
Newspapers in Imphal, the capital of BJP-ruled Manipur in the north-east, did not print any text in their editorial columns today as a mark of protest against the burning of copies of a local daily by a mob led by the BJP's youth wing BJYM.
On Saturday last, local language daily Poknapham ran an editorial that seemed to question the way the Manipur government, headed by BJP Chief Minister N Biren Singh, handled the peace talks between the centre and Naga groups, including the armed NSCN (IM).
People familiar with the matter said the editorial discussed possible fallout of the talks in Manipur. However, the immediate trigger of the reaction from the BJP-affiliated Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha was the mention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "cattle thief" in the local language daily, a BJP official said.
The mob collected several copies of the newspaper and burned them.
A day later, on Sunday last, editors of local dailies in Manipur held a meeting where it was decided they would condemn the burning of the newspaper copies by publishing blank editorials.
The Congress came out as the single-largest party in the Manipur assembly elections held in March this year. But the BJP after winning 21 seats in the 60-member assembly stitched an alliance and won a trust vote to form a coalition government.