Indian authorities have blocked web entry for about 27 million folks within the state of Punjab for a 3rd straight day — one of many nation’s most intensive blackouts in recent times — as police seek for a Sikh separatist on the run.

The Punjab authorities initially introduced a 24-hour web ban on Saturday as authorities launched an operation to arrest Amritpal Singh, a well-liked chief throughout the separatist Khalistan motion that seeks to determine a sovereign state for followers of the Sikh faith.

The web shutdown — which impacts everybody within the northern Indian state — was prolonged by the federal government for a 3rd time to noon Tuesday underneath a legislation that enables the connection to be minimize to “prevent any incitement to violence and any disturbance of peace and public order.”

Police in Punjab have justified the web shutdown as a method to take care of legislation and order and cease the unfold of “fake news.”

Dramatic scenes captured on video and broadcast on native tv confirmed lots of of Singh’s supporters, some holding swords and sticks, strolling via the streets of Punjab. Police and paramilitary troops had been deployed throughout a number of districts within the state in a bid to take care of legislation and order.

At least 112 folks have been arrested, Punjab police mentioned Sunday, whereas Singh stays on the run.

For many years, some Sikhs have demanded that an unbiased nation referred to as Khalistan be carved within the state of Punjab for followers of the minority religion. Over the years, violent clashes have erupted between followers of the motion and the Indian authorities, claiming many lives.

The violence reached a climax in June 1984 when the Indian military stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Sikhism’s holiest shrine, to seize armed separatists, killing 1000’s and decreasing a lot of the constructing to rubble. The carnage roiled the Sikh neighborhood and India’s former prime minister Indira Gandhi, who ordered the operation, was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards within the aftermath.

The Khalistan motion is outlawed and thought of a grave nationwide safety risk by the Indian authorities, however maintains a degree of help amongst some Sikhs throughout the nation and abroad.

In a statement Sunday, the World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) condemned the “draconian” operation to arrest Singh and mentioned it feared “Singh’s detention may be used to orchestrate a false encounter and facilitate his extrajudicial murder.”

Over the weekend, a few of Singh’s supporters vandalized the Indian High Commission in London, prompting UK authorities to sentence the incident.

The British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, called the acts “disgraceful” and “totally unacceptable.”

In a press release late Sunday, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs mentioned it’s “expected that the UK government would take immediate steps to identify, arrest and prosecute” these concerned within the incident.

“There is no place in our city for this kind of behaviour. An investigation has been launched by the Met into today’s events,” London mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted Sunday.

India’s web cuts

Internet shutdowns have change into more and more frequent in India, which has greater than 800 million web customers — the world’s second largest digital inhabitants, behind China.

Earlier this month, a report by Access Now, a New York-based advocacy group that tracks web freedom, mentioned India imposed 84 web shutdowns in 2022, marking the fifth consecutive yr the world’s largest democracy of greater than 1.3 billion folks has topped the worldwide checklist.

The disruptions “impacted the daily lives of millions of people for hundreds of hours,” the report mentioned.

The web has change into a significant social and financial lifeline for giant swathes of the inhabitants and connects the nation’s remoted rural pockets with its rising cities.

The authorities has repeatedly tried to justify blocking web entry on the grounds of preserving public security amid fears of mob violence. But critics say the shutdowns are yet one more blow to the nation’s dedication to freedom of speech and entry to data.

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CNN’s Manveena Suri contributed reporting from New Delhi.