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India’s Manipur imposes curfew, cuts internet to quell escalating violence
Authorities in India’s northeastern state of Manipur have imposed an indefinite curfew and blocked internet access following student protests against a new surge in the ethnic violence that has rocked the region for more than a year.
On Tuesday, a notice from the state’s Home Ministry ordered all internet and mobile data services to be shut off for five days to bring the latest unrest under control.
“Some anti-social elements might use social media extensively for transmission of images, hate speech and hate video messages inciting the passions of the public,” the notice said.
A curfew was imposed in three districts of Manipur while the state government said that internet and mobile data services would be suspended until Sunday in order to curb misinformation and hate speech that could trigger more violence.
Manipur, a restive state of 3.2 million people tucked in the mountains on India’s border with Myanmar, has experienced periodic violence for more than a year between the predominantly Hindu-majority Meitei and the mainly Christian Kukis over economic benefits and government jobs and education quotas.
Despite a heavy army presence, the deadly clashes have persisted.
At least nine people have been killed and several injured in the last 10 days as armed groups launched drone attacks and rockets from homemade devices.
Hundreds of Meitei in the state capital, Imphal, defied a curfew imposed earlier on Tuesday to demand that security forces take action against Kuki fighting groups, whom they blame for the latest spate of attacks.
Student-led protests on Monday turned violent after the crowd threw stones and plastic bottles at security forces, police said in a statement, adding that protesters in another district snatched arms from police and fired at them.
On Tuesday, police lobbed tear gas at hundreds of students who attempted to march towards the Manipur governor’s house and demanded the restoration of peace in the state.
Students say they are frustrated with the government’s failure to resolve the 16-month-long conflict.
About 250 people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced after mobs rampaged through villages and torched houses since last May.
Student leader Ch Victor Singh said that protesters gave Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya 24 hours to respond to a list of demands, which includes the removal of the top police official in the state and the security adviser for their failure to control the violence, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
“We urge the students to engage in peaceful marches or protests and follow the law,” said IK Muivah, a senior police officer in Imphal.
He said police were investigating the recent attacks.
[Aljazeera]
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called anti-government protesters “troublemakers” and “a bunch of vandals” just trying “to please the president of the US”.
He accused crowds of destroying buildings because Donald Trump said he “supports you”. Trump has warned Iran that if it kills protesters, the US would “hit” the country “very hard”.
The protests, in their 13th day, erupted over the economy and have grown into the largest in years – leading to calls for an end to the Islamic Republic and some urging the restoration of the monarchy.
At least 48 protesters and 14 security personnel, have been killed, according to human rights groups. An internet blackout is in place.
Khamenei remained defiant in a televised address on Friday.
“Let everyone know that the Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of several hundred thousand honourable people and it will not back down in the face of those who deny this,” the 86-year-old said.
Since protests began on 28 December, in addition to the 48 protesters killed, more than 2,277 individuals have also been arrested, the US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) said.
The Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) said at least 51 protesters, including nine children, had been killed.
BBC Persian has spoken to the families of 22 of them and confirmed their identities. The BBC and most other international news organisations are barred from reporting inside Iran.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement on Friday saying it would not tolerate the continuation of the current situation in the country.
Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah who was overthrown by the 1979 Islamic revolution, called on Trump on Friday to “be prepared to intervene to help the people of Iran”.
Pahlavi, who lives close to Washington DC, had urged protesters to take to the streets on Thursday and Friday.
Protests have taken place across the country, with BBC Verify verifying videos from 67 locations.
On Friday, protesters amassed after weekly prayers in the south-eastern city of Zahedan, videos verified by BBC Persian and BBC Verify show. In one of the videos, people can be heard chanting “death to the dictator”, referencing Khamenei.
In another, protesters gather near a local mosque, when several loud bangs can be heard.
Another verified video from Thursday showed a fire at the office of the Young Journalists Club, a subsidiary of state broadcaster Irib, in the city of Isfahan. It is unclear what caused the fire and if anyone was injured.
Photos received by the BBC from Thursday night also show cars overturned and set alight at Tehran’s Kaaj roundabout.
The country has been under a near-total internet blackout since Thursday evening, with minor amounts of traffic returning on Friday, internet monitoring groups Cloudfare and Netblocks said. That means less information is emerging from Iran.
IHRNGO director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in a statement that “the extent of the government’s use of force against protesters has been increasing, and the risk of intensified violence and the widespread killing of protesters after the internet shutdown is very serious”.
Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi has warned of a possible “massacre” during the internet shutdown.
One person who was able to send a message to the BBC said he was in Shiraz, in southern Iran. He reported a run on supermarkets by residents trying to stock up on food and other essentials, expecting worse days to come.
(BBC)
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