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Chandigarh: As the farmers’ protest continues, the Haryana government has prolonged the ban on mobile internet and bulk SMS services in seven districts until February 19. Protesting farmers, stationed at Shambhu and Khanauri points on Punjab’s border with Haryana, have been pressing for various demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
The affected districts – Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad, and Sirsa – will witness the extension of the suspension, as announced by Haryana’s additional chief secretary, T V S N Prasad. The decision comes in light of the prevailing law and order situation, deemed critical and tense in these areas. The authorities express concerns about the potential disruption of public utilities, damage to assets, and disturbance of public law and order due to the misuse of internet services for spreading inflammatory material and false rumors.
The order to extend the ban falls under Section 5 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, and Rule 2 of the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules 2017. The suspension encompasses mobile internet services, bulk SMS (excluding banking and mobile recharge), and all dongle services, with an exception for voice calls in the specified districts.
The farmers have been staging a protest for the past five days, following their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march that aimed to draw attention to their demands. The key demands include a legal assurance of MSP, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, pension for farmers and farm laborers, farm debt waiver, no hike in electricity tariffs, withdrawal of police cases, justice for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation for families of farmers who died during the previous agitation in 2020-21. The ongoing standoff has led to clashes with security forces.
