As violent protests rage in Manipur, Amit Shah cancels the Maharashtra election rallies

As protests rage in Manipur, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has called off his rallies in Maharashtra. As violent protests continue to rage across the Imphal Valley in Manipur, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has called off his planned election rallies in Maharashtra, according to news agency PTI. After three bodies, believed to be those of six missing people from Jiribam district, were discovered close to the Manipur-Assam border on Friday night, there were protests and the burning remains of goods. (PTI)

After three bodies, believed to be those of six missing people from Jiribam district, were discovered close to the Manipur-Assam border on Friday night, there were protests and the burning remains of goods.(PTI) Given the worsening security situation in Manipur, where tensions are still high after a string of violent incidents connected to the deaths of six civilians in Jiribam district, including three women and children, Amit Shah has returned to Delhi. Even as security forces battled to keep the area under control, angry mobs set fire to the homes of a number of BJP and Congress lawmakers, including a senior state minister, as part of the protests that have gotten worse since Saturday.

In the midst of an indefinite curfew that was imposed after people attacked the homes of three state ministers and six MLAs earlier on Saturday after militants in Jiribam district killed three women and three children each, there were new violent protests on Saturday night. According to officials, angry residents set fire to the homes of PWD Minister Govindas Konthoujam in Ningthoukhong, BJP MLA Y Radheshyam in Hiyanglam at Langmeidong Bazar, BJP MLA Paonam Brojen in Thoubal district, and Congress MLA Th Lokeshwar in Khundrakpam in Imphal East district. Police said the houses were partially burned in the incidents, but the lawmakers and their families were not home when the irate mob stormed their residential compounds, vandalized properties, and set the houses on fire.

In a different incident, demonstrators tried to enter Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s ancestral home in Luwangshangbam, Imphal East. But only 100–200 meters from the chief minister’s house, security forces, including members of the Assam Rifles and Border Security Force (BSF), used rubber bullets and tear gas shells to scatter the crowd and stop their advance. In spite of this, demonstrators persisted in blocking the roads that led to Singh’s house, blocking traffic with iron rods and burning tires.