Dilli Chalo: Haryana govt suspends mobile internet in Ambala

Amid the “Dilli Chalo” call by farmers’ outfits from Punjab, the Haryana government said Friday it has imposed prohibitory orders in the state’s Ambala, Kaithal, Jind, Fatehabad, and Sirsa districts, and ordered the suspension of mobile internet services in 11 villages in the Ambala district until December 9.

Farmers’ bodies have given the call to march towards Delhi from the Shambhu border near Ambala seeking a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for their crops, among other demands.

However, the Nayab Singh Saini government made it clear that protesters from Punjab will not be allowed to enter Haryana as they don’t have permission to stage a protest in Delhi. Earlier, the Haryana government imposed prohibitory orders in Ambala and issued notices at the protest site near the Shambhu border.

In such order under Section 163 of Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), Parth Gupta, Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, prohibited any unlawful assembly of five or more persons and any procession on foot, vehicles or through any other mode.

A senior Haryana government officer said they were keeping an eye on the developments at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders, adding they have information that the agitators don’t have plans to launch a march from the Khanauri border.

The officer once again urged the agitators to come forward for talks and put forward their point of view in front of the Supreme Court-formed committee.

As many as 15 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces have already arrived in the state and have been deployed at all the critical points. This is in addition to the state police forces.

Earlier in the day, Sumita Misra, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Haryana, issued an order to suspend mobile internet services, bulk SMSes (excluding banking and mobile recharge) and all dongle services provided on mobile networks — except voice calls — in the villages of Dangdehri, Manakpur, Bari Ghel, Lharsa, Kalu Majra, Devi Nagar, Saddopur, Sultanpur, Kakru, Lohgarh and Dadiyana.

According to the home secretary, the order has been issued to prevent any disturbance to peace and public order. She added that the additional director general of police (CID) and the Ambala deputy commissioner have brought to her notice that given the call for the march, there is apprehension of tension, agitation, damage to public and private property and disturbance to public peace in the Ambala district.

The home secretary said that services of individual SMS, mobile recharge, banking SMS, voice calls, internet services provided by broadband, and lease lines of corporate and domestic households have been exempted from the suspension order.

In a late-night message, Ambala Deputy Commissioner Gupta also ordered that all government and private schools in the district must remain closed on Friday.

Earlier this year, a similar agitation had seen the police resorting to tear gas shelling at the Shambhu and Khanauri border from the Haryana side, leading to the death of a young farmer, Shubhkaran Singh, from Punjab’s Bathinda. Indian Express