The situation in Manipur's Imphal valley was calm but tense on Friday morning after a night of violent clashes including an attempt to attack the empty ancestral residence of Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
All the market places and shops reopened and traffic has resumed as normal in all these districts bringing much relief to the people.
A top Haryana government official on Thursday said anyone found responsible for the communal clashes will not be spared and claimed that the situation is fast returning to normal in the state.
The main Opposition BNP of former premier Khaleda Zia, 78, who is under house arrest, is boycotting the elections amidst violence.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused urgent hearing on a plea seeking Army protection for minority Kuki tribals amid ethnic violence in Manipur.
The resolution which also condemned the border dispute 'created' by Maharashtra and moved by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, was adopted by a voice vote.
Violence had rocked West Bengal's rural polls on Saturday, leaving 15 people dead while ballot boxes were vandalised, ballot papers torched, and bombs thrown at rivals in several places.
The Zomi-Kuki organisation also sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention for a permanent solution to the ongoing ethnic strife
The Manipur government dubbed as untrue the claim by the counsel for the committee appointed by the apex court to oversee relief and rehabilitation of the victims of ethnic violence that the people of the state were suffering on account of an economic blockade.
The Union government had last week directed social media platforms such as Twitter and YouTube to block links to the documentary India: The Modi Question.
Most of the Kuki MLAs irrespective of their party affiliations are unlikely to attend the Manipur assembly session slated to be called from August 21 in view of the continued ethnic violence, according to leaders from the community.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also took note of the affidavit of the Manipur chief secretary that there was no short supply of basic commodities like food and medicines for people facing economic blockade.
A senior police officer said adequate security arrangements have been made on the campus to maintain peace and tranquillity in the area.
Stalin is preparing the DMK to go the whole hog in making 'federalism', 'Tamil self-respect' and 'communal cohesiveness' the party's poll plank next year, and package the BJP and its possible allies, as 'divisive' and 'reactionary', predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's convoy was on Thursday stopped by the Manipur police at Bishnupur, about 20 kilometres from Imphal, officials said.
'The CM seems to have forgotten that she is dealing with the Gorkhas, people known for their valour and loyalty to India.' 'It is shameful that Mamata Banerjee and her administration treated them like insurgents, choosing to use live bullets instead of other ways and means to control crowds.'
People who were present at the convention centre told media that the first blast occurred in the middle of a prayer.
The Congress sought her intervention in helping bring normalcy in violence-hit Manipur, and called for the constitution of a high-level inquiry commission headed by a serving or retired Supreme Court judge to probe the incident.
Sources said that Abdullah has now been detained under the stringent Public Safety Act
Asking Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state government, to file an updated status report, the bench said, "It should have details like rehabilitation camps, law and order and recovery of arms."
Scores of churches and homes belonging to Christians in Jaranwala tehsil of Faisalabad district, some 130 km from the provincial capital, were burnt down on Wednesday by a mob enraged over reports that two Christians had desecrated the Quran.
'A male constable addressed my mother using profanities.' 'They said nothing could save our home from being bulldozed.' 'They want to make my father their sacrificial goat.'
The Imphal Valley in Manipur, which remained peaceful for most of Friday, witnessed sporadic clashes later in the day as more security forces were rushed in from other states by road and air to calm down a state which had witnessed bloody ethnic rioting over the last 48 hours.
'Had it not been for the complicity of the state and Biren Singh's leadership, these riots would not have spread this far and for so long.'
The Ladakh-based innovator had announced a five-day long hunger strike at 18,380 feet high Khardung La from January 26 to invite attention of the BJP-led Centre to the demands of the people of Ladakh.
'Given the blood on his hands, it's really hard to believe that he (Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh) has the audacity and the moral numbness to hold onto power.'
The report urged the top court that the matter may be taken up by the petitioners and other parties with utmost sensitivity as any misinformation or rumour or even suspicion may aggravate the situation in Manipur, where things are slowly returning to normal with the concerted efforts of the central and the state governments.
Two incidents of hurling of crude bombs were reported in Sealdah and Khanna areas of Kolkata, and police contingents were rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control, a State Election Commission official said.
'The politics that is now being played in Punjab doesn't contribute towards peace and tranquillity.'
The students had earlier planned to arrange a mass screening of the documentary India: The Modi Question, but they watched it on Saturday on laptops and mobile phones at a decided time and venue despite a warning by the institute, while tight police security was deployed outside the campus, he said.
The top court pronounced the verdict on a number of petitions challenging the restrictions and internet blockade imposed in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in August last year. The court heard the petitions filed by various petitioners including Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kashmir Times editor Anuradha Bhasin.
The Imphal Valley in Manipur remained peaceful but tense on Friday, however intermittent gunfights between militant groups and security forces were reported from the hill districts surrounding the valley.
The Centre on Saturday made available additional forces to violence-hit Assam as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the "cowardly" terror attack and promised all measures to restore peace there.
Hindu temples in Bangladesh have been vandalised by some unidentified miscreants during Durga Puja celebrations, prompting the government to deploy paramilitary force in 22 districts after three people were killed and many others injured in riots, media reports said.
There are three things you never do in a small North East state: Undermine local leaders, divide and rule, push homogenisation, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
A powerful suicide blast ripped through a mosque in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province on Friday, killing at least 52 people and injuring over 50 others gathered to celebrate Prophet Muhammad's birthday, authorities said.
A large number of farmers on Tuesday squatted at the gates of the district headquarters in Karnal, locked in a showdown with Haryana's Bharatiya Janata Party-led government over a police lathi-charge last month.
Eleven people died during a havan at Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal temple in Madhya Pradesh's Indore after they fell into a well as its cover caved-in under the weight of a huge crowd, while three others got fatally electrocuted during a Ram Navami procession in Rajasthan's Kota.
Abdullah's sister Suraiya, his daughter Safiya and 11 other women furnished a personal bond of Rs 10,000 and surety of Rs 40,000 each under section 107 of criminal procedure code, giving an assurance that they would maintain peace, the officials said.
'We are only saying that we will peacefully fight for its restoration. We will fight for it under the ambit of the Constitution, and legally as well'
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