Prophet remark row: West Bengal suspends internet services in 2 more districts
Premium- Internet services has been suspended in West Bengal's Beldanga, Murshidabad
After Howrah district, the West Bengal government has now decided to temporarily suspend the internet services in Beldanga and Murshidabad districts. The services in these regions will remain suspended till 6 am on 14 June. The decision came in a bid to stop rumours and prevent unlawful activities owing to the protest over the suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma's controversial Prophet Mohammad remarks.
An official order in this regard stated, the internet services have been suspended in Beldanga 1 block covering Beldanga Police Station area and Beldanga 2 block covering Rejinagar and Shaktipur Police Station areas till 6 AM on June 14. However, no restrictions have been imposed on phone calls, SMS and newspapers.
The constitution of India guarantees freedom of expression of Indian citizens but at the same time allows for reasonable restrictions of the same, the order pointed out
Internet services suspended in Howrah
Meanwhile, internet services will remain suspended in the entire Howrah district till June 13. A Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed in several areas of the district including Uluberia, Domjur and Panchla till June 15.
On Friday, several parts of the district saw protests over controversial remarks by suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled leader Naveen Jindal on Prophet Mohammad. Agitators pelted stones, set police vehicles on fire and damaged public properties. Fresh violence was reported in Panchla Bazaar area in Howrah district on Saturday as protesters clashed with the police and several houses were set on fire.
Protests were also seen in Delhi, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra
On Friday, similar protests were also observed in Delhi, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and other areas.
In Ranchi, a city-wide protest was since the morning on Friday that picked up tempo post prayers. Many shops and establishments in Ranchi were shut on Friday protesting against the remarks. Later, a curfew was imposed in violence-hit areas in the city.
The row over the alleged derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad escalated on Sunday with protests from countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Iran, prompting the BJP to take action against its functionaries and assert that it respects all religions.