Parts of Ambala under 4 day Internet suspension ahead of farmers' 'Delhi Chalo' march

Chandigarh, Dec 14: Ahead of the farmers' 'Delhi Chalo' march, Internet services in several areas of Ambala, Haryana, have been suspended from 6:00 A.M. on Saturday to 11:59 P.M. on December 17.

A statement from the Haryana Department of Home Affairs said, "I, Home Secretary, Haryana, do hereby order the suspension of the mobile Internet services (2G/3G/4G/5G/CDMA/GPRS), bulk SMS excluding banking and mobile recharge and all dongle services etc. provided on mobile networks except the voice calls in the area of villages Dangdehri, Lohgarh, Manakpur, Dadiyana, Bari Ghel, Choti Ghel, Lharsa, Kalu Majra, Devi Nagar (Hira Nagar, Naresh Vihar), Saddopur, Sultanpur and Kakru in the jurisdiction of district Ambala. All telecom service providers of Haryana are hereby directed to ensure the compliance of this order."

"This order is issued to prevent any disturbance of peace and public order in the area," it added. Authorities however, exempted individual SMSs, mobile recharge, banking SMSs, Voice calls, and Internet services from the suspension that began on Saturday and will end on 11:59 P.M. on December 17. Farmers are set to resume their 'Delhi Chalo' foot march on Saturday, pressing for the fulfilment of their long-pending demands, including a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops and loan waivers.

The march will involve a group of 101 farmers heading towards the national Capital as part of the ongoing protest that has now completed 10 months. The farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13, after security forces stopped their earlier attempts to proceed to Delhi. The protest is being held under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha.

Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher announced the decision to march towards Delhi and mentioned that farmers had prayed at Sikh shrines to express solidarity and seek blessings for the movement's success. Meanwhile, farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on an indefinite hunger strike for over 18 days at the Khanauri border, has seen his health deteriorate significantly. Doctors attending to him have reported decreasing weight and unstable blood pressure.

On Friday, the Supreme Court directed the Punjab and Central governments to ensure medical assistance for Dallewal, emphasising that his life is more important than the agitation. The court also suggested that the farmers adopt Gandhian methods of protest. In anticipation of the march, security along the interstate border on the Ghaggar rivulet has been heightened, with central paramilitary forces and Haryana police deployed there in full force.

During the earlier march attempts, teargas shells were used by the security forces to prevent farmers from crossing the barricades. Temporary barricades, heavily guarded by police and paramilitary personnel, were set up to restrict their movement. The protesting farmers had briefly suspended their march on December 8 after clashes with security personnel at Shambhu resulted in injuries. However, the farmers remain steadfast in their demands, which include legal reforms to improve the agricultural sector.

The Haryana Police had previously invoked prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to justify their actions in preventing the protestors from advancing. Despite this, the farmers are determined to highlight their grievances in front of Parliament.