The Manipur government on Tuesday suspended internet services across the state for five days with effect from 3 pm today till 3 pm on September 15 amid rising student agitation and imposed curfews in Imphal East and West districts and prohibitory orders under Section 163 (2) of BNSS in Thoubal.

In order to prevent the spread of hate speech, images, and videos via social media platforms, the government has suspended internet services including mobile data, broadband, VPN services, and other communication lines.

“Temporary suspension/curbing of internet and mobile data services including Lease Lines, VSATs, broadbands and VPN services (were ordered) in the territorial jurisdiction of the state of Manipur for five days with effect from 3 PM of September 10 to till 3 PM of September 15,” the notification read.

According to reports, a large number of students from various schools and colleges have been protesting since Monday at the Khwairamband Women’s Market in Imphal, demanding action against those behind the recent drone and missile attacks.

Protesting students, calling for the protection of the state’s territorial and administrative integrity, could not march towards the Raj Bhavan today as they were stopped by security forces near the Congress Bhavan.

Home Minister Amit Shah’s effigy was burnt by the Manipur University students during a protest rally here.

According to officials, tear gas shells were fired at the protesting students including women as a clash with security forces erupted during the agitators’ attempt to march towards the Raj Bhavan to press for their demands to remove the DGP and security advisor to the Manipur government.

Education authorities stated that all government, aided, and private schools and colleges in Manipur will remain closed on September 11 and 12.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, speaking to a reporter on the situation, said Manipur is a part of India and Prime Minister Narendra  Modi has neglected the state as if it is not a part of India for him. It is very saddening, the former Bihar deputy chief minister said.

AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said: “The situation is very dangerous in Manipur. BJP is continuously protecting its CM N Biren Singh. PM Modi does not want to visit Manipur.”

Speaking to news agency PTI on situation, social activist Rohan Philem said, “I have been speaking actively on the crisis of Manipur which has been going on for almost 15 months. I just came here to inquire about the students. However, a lot of unnecessary havoc broke out today. According to my count, 15-20 students have been injured and one student died at the hospital premises.”

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday slammed BJP after President Droupadi Murmu took cognisance of the memorandum submitted by the saffron party and forwarded it to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), seeking action on BJP’s demands to dismiss Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi.

A delegation of BJP MLAs met President Murmu on August 30 and submitted a memorandum, urging her urgent intervention in the Constitutional crisis plaguing Delhi due to Kejriwal’s imprisonment.

Retorting sharply at BJP, Delhi Minister Atishi accused the saffron party of conspiring to topple the Kejriwal government through the back door by imposition of the President’s rule in Delhi.

The accusation comes a day after the Opposition BJP stated in the memorandum that Delhi was facing a constitutional crisis and demanded proper attention on the matter from the MHA.

AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh also lashed out at the BJP, declaring that his party is prepared for the elections.

“If BJP feels that it wants to lose quickly, then it should announce the date of Delhi Assembly elections tomorrow itself. We are ready for the elections,” Singh said.

Talking to PTI, Atishi said that if the Kejriwal government is toppled, the Delhiites will give a befitting reply by giving zero seats to the BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections and the AAP will win all the 70 seats.

Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta on Monday alleged that paralysis of governance in Delhi was caused by Chief Minister Kejriwal being in jail for more than four months on serious corruption charges in the excise policy case.

Atishi said the BJP’s only job is to topple the elected governments in the country through its “Operation Lotus” as happened in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Manipur.

“They also tried Operation Lotus in Delhi to topple the government by poaching the AAP MLAs, but they failed. Now, they are conspiring to impose the President’s Rule through the back door to topple the popular government of Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi,” she alleged.

The elections to the 70 seats of the Delhi Assembly are due early next year.

The Delhi Patiala House Court on Tuesday granted interim bail to Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla MP Sheikh Rashid alias Engineer Rashid till October 2 in a terror funding case, ahead of Assembly elections.

The Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) leader Rashid was arrested by National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the stringent UAPA {Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act} in 2017.

Rashid, who has been in Delhi’s Tihar Jail since 2019, was arrested by the probe agency after his name cropped up during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali.

To campaign in the upcoming Assembly polls in the Union Territory, the AIP leader Rashid had moved the court seeking interim bail for exercising his rights.

According to the national probe agency, he was allegedly funding terror groups and separatists in Kashmir.  

Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin were among the names in the chargesheet filed by the NIA in the case.

In 2022, Kashmiri separatist leader Malik was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court after he pleaded guilty to the charges.

In the recent Lok Sabha elections, Engineer Rashid, contesting as an independent candidate, defeated former Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah from the Baramulla seat.

As the Union Territory is set to vote in the Assembly elections next week, Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party has recently released a list of candidates for nine seats in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. 

The list includes Abdul Qayoom Mir from Pampore; Harbaksh Singh from Tral; Sofi Iqbal from Pulwama; Molvi Fayaz Wagay from Zainapora in Shopian; Mohammad Arif Dar from DH Pora in Kulgam; Suhail Bhat from Devsar in Kulgam; Hilal Ahmad Malik from Dooru in Anantnag; Aqib Mushtaq from Anantnag West and Tawseef Nisar from Anantnag.