While it is known that farmers of the country are protesting peacefully at the national border demanding the repeal of the 3 contentious farm laws, a group of angry agriculturists lashed out at the telecommunication towers of Reliance Jio in Punjab and cut off the power supply of 1,300 of them.
With this act, the state’s consumers got deprived of mobile and internet services which remain crucial for the current covid situation.
Sources within the industry said that amongst the 9,000 towers erected in the state, 1,300 have been disconnected by the mob while some others’ fibers have got cut.
In the ongoing protest, where the central government is adamant not to remove the laws completely as they are for the “benefit” for the farmers while only offering an amendment, the farmers have also called for a boycott of Reliance Jio and the products of the firm, Reliance Industries, and Adani Group.
Boycott of products and services, including the abandonment of their existing Jio sim cards and denial to buy a Jio network card, is understandable as a means of peaceful protest but damaging the property and assets of the company is not, industry sources said.
Retaliating to other such acts, Punjab state Chief Minister Amarinder Singh requested farmers on December 25th to abstain from doing the activities as it can cause trouble to the civilians. He appealed to follow the steps they had been practicing earlier that remained largely peaceful without igniting tensions as communication has become the only medium of connectivity during the pandemic.
The CM’s urge to the groups came following a request from the Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA), a registered body of telecom infrastructure providers, requesting the government of Punjab to convince the farmers not to opt for ways that are illegal.
Singh, hence, told the groups not to resort to such actions as they weren’t in the interest of the state and its future.
“Forceful disruption of telecom services due to snapping of power supply to mobile towers by farmers in several parts of the state is not only adversely affecting the studies and future prospects of students, who are dependent entirely on online education, but also hampering the daily life of people working from home due to the pandemic,” Singh had said.
“Further, the disruption of telecom services would also seriously affect the state’s already disturbed economy,” the chief minister of Punjab added in his request to the farmer’s groups.
