Gujarat again suspends mobile internet, SMS following detention of protesting Patidar leader Harik Patel

Shivanand Jha

By A Representative
In a second clampdown in less than a month’s time on the use of internet in Gujarat, the Gujarat government has banned the use of mobile internet and SMS services in Ahmedabad and Surat cities starting at 11.00 am. An order signed by Ahmedabad police commissioner Shivanand Jha said, the services will not be available till September 20 midnight. Landline broadband, however, has been allowed to function normally.
The state government decision follows detention of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convener Hardik Patel along with his 35 followers, who began their “unity march” or Ekta Yatra, from Surat without police permission.
The police commissioner’s order says mobile service providers were being asked to discontinue “all 2G, 3G mobile internet services” as also “all SMS services”, and anyone found guilty of violating this order would be liable to action under relevant sections of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Earlier, mobile internet facility in Gujarat remained suspended for seven days starting on August 26 after Patel agitation turned violent following the arrest of Hardik Patel on August 25 after the five-lakh strong anti-government Patidar rally at Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) ground in Ahmedabad.
Earlier, the Gujarat High Court has rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking declaration of mobile internet ban a violation of the fundamental right of freedom of speech. A division bench headed by acting Chief Justice Jayant Patel upheld the state government’s decision banning internet services during the Patel agitation in August as “just and proper” and in “good faith” to maintain law and order.
In his new order, the police commissioner says, since it is not possible to send notice to ban internet and SMS services directly to mobile service providers, he is sending it to newspapers, Akashvani and Doordarshan, as also to different police stations, to be displayed prominently.
Justifying the order, the police commissioner says, the PAAS decided to go ahead with its rally in Surat on September 19 despite the fact that it was not granted permission. Necessary action is being taken against the Patidar leaders, he said.
“We have to ensure that no law and order problem takes shape of the type that took place after the August 25 Patidar rally, and anti-social elements do not take advantage of the social media for spreading rumours”, he said.
Meanwhile, Alpesh Thakore, leader of the OBC, SC, ST coordination committee, said he welcomed the decision of the government to stop the Patidar rally from being taken out. “We appreciate the government’s action against PAAS leaders whose Ekta Yatra and other programmes to arm-twist the government would have resulted into caste-conflict and widespread violence,” he said.
Thakore’s new ally, Adivasi Khedut Sangharsh Manch convener Romel Sutaria, also welcomed the police action saying it was “the right step to safeguard the Constitution”. He added, “We do not mind the Patels getting reservation but not at the expense of the quota for OBCs. The reservation for OBCs is for the uplift of the socially backward communities and not just economically poor.”

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

UP tribal woman human rights defender Sokalo released on bail

By A Representative After almost five months in jail, Adivasi human rights defender and forest worker Sokalo Gond has been finally released on bail.Despite being granted bail on October 4, technical and procedural issues kept Sokalo behind bars until November 1. The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) and the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP), which are backing Sokalo, called it a "major victory." Sokalo's release follows the earlier releases of Kismatiya and Sukhdev Gond in September. "All three forest workers and human rights defenders were illegally incarcerated under false charges, in what is the State's way of punishing those who are active in their fight for the proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act (2006)", said a CJP statement.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

'Restructuring' Sahitya Akademi: Is the ‘Gujarat model’ reaching Delhi?

By Prakash N. Shah* A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards .

Search This Blog