The Haryana government shut down Internet connections on Monday from 12.30 pm until Tuesday midnight to ensure peace and order a day before the Kisan Maha panchayat in Karnal district in protest against the Aug 28th lathi-charge on farmers.
The measure is intended to limit the misuse of SMS and social media ‘that may lead to the spread of rumours that have a clear potential to cause harm to public property and facilities,’ according to a government spokesman.
According to Rule-2 of the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017, the order was issued by the Secretary of the state’s home department. All SMS services, including bulk SMS (excluding banking and mobile recharge), and all dongle services (except voice calls) have been halted in the exercise of the rights to suspend mobile internet services (2G/3G/4G/CDMA/GPRS), the order said.
According to a news agency, in addition to Karnal, the Haryana government has also halted internet and SMS services in four neighbouring districts: Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind and Panipat.
According to Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij, farmers have been urged to peacefully protest and gherao the Karnal district’s local secretariat. He stated that roads have been redirected for public convenience and sufficient troops have been dispatched to deal with the issue.
Also Read: Man swallows phone, undergoes two-hour-long surgery to remove it
Vij directed the Additional Director General of Police Navdeep Singh Virk remain on the scene and monitor the situation in order to bring the incident to a peaceful conclusion.
In response to a query on the internet shutdown, Vij stated that under the pretext of such programmes, certain nefarious individuals take advantage of the circumstance. As a result, he added, the government must take safeguards. Meanwhile, Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Gurnam Singh Charuni claimed the meeting with the Karnal government had yielded no results and they would proceed with the maha panchayat and gherao the mini secretariat.
Farmers will first attend a panchayat at Karnal’s Anaj Mandi before heading to the district administrative offices to surround it. Farmers’ organisations have called for a demonstration on September 7 and the administration in Haryana’s Karnal has issued prohibitory orders throughout the district under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) prohibiting mass gatherings.
Post Your Comments