UP ONLINE BLACKOUT YET AGAIN

The Yogi administration is still not breathing easy, even though the protests over the citizenship law have diminished somewhat.

In fact, fearing a fresh eruption, internet has been suspended in various cities of Uttar Pradesh -- in Bulandshar, Bijnor, Mathura, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, Agra, Firozabad, Sambhal, Aligarh and Ghaiabad. The Friday prayers have the administration on an edge, just in case there are any impromptu protests.

"We've deployed security personnel in different districts of the state and held dialogue with the people. Internet services have been suspended in eight districts for a day, and we're also monitoring content on social media," news agency ANI quoted Additional Director General (Law and Order) PV Ramasastry as saying.

MINISTER SKIPS MUSLIM HOUSES:

The attempts to polarise was apparent when a UP minister on a visit to Bijnor on Thursday refused to meet the families of the two Muslim men who died in the recent protests, terming them as "upadravi" (vandals).

"Why should I visit those who want to set Nahtaur/Bijnor ablaze?" the minister in-charge of the district demanded while defending his decision to not visit the homes of the two Muslim families. ‘‘This is not about Hindu-Muslim,’’ he insisted.

During Friday's violence, 20-year-old Suleman, an IAS aspirant, and 25-year-old Anas lost their lives. After initial denials, the local police admitted that Suleman died from a police bullet and that he was among the alleged rioters who opened

fire at a cop from a country-made gun and that he was shot in self-defence. Suleman's family, however, denies this and says he had nothing to do with the protests.

‘VANDAL’ WAS OUT TO BURY GRANDFATHER: Meanwhile, one of the notices sent to the vandals allegedly responsible for heavy damage to public property during the CAA protests has also been served on an old Lucknow resident, who says he was on his way to bury his grandfather when the police picked him up. GOVERNOR RUSTICATED: Meanwhile, on the warpath, livid students of Jadavpur University in West Bengal, on Thursday "rusticated" Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as the chancellor over his stand on a host of issues, including the contentious Citizenship Act.

In a letter, the students have alleged that the governor was present on the university premises on the evening of September 19 "along with miscreants who hurled bombs, sexually assaulted women and vandalised sections of the university.