Delhi: Airtel shuts voice, data in few areas; deletes tweet
The protests against Citizenship Amended Act brought Delhi to its knees. Amid tensions, Airtel confirmed that voice, SMS, and data services have been suspended in some parts of the national capital. The telecommunications giant revealed this when customers flagged the issue, but deleted the tweet later. The places where services took a hit were ITO, Northeast Delhi, and the area near India Gate.
Following government orders, sorry for inconvenience: Airtel
This morning, an Airtel customer from Northeast Delhi complained about services. On this, a representative replied, "As per instructions from government authorities, Voice, internet and SMS services are currently suspended in your location. Once the suspension orders are lifted, our services will be fully up and running. We're sorry about the inconvenience." Airtel gave similar responses to other customers.
Government's decision to suspend services drew flak
As soon as it was known that mobile services have been suspended, people on social media likened it to an emergency. In a sarcastic tweet, journalist Vinod Kapri asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "declare an official emergency". And journalist Barkha Dutt tweeted, "Delhi welcome to Kashmir eh?" Like her, there were others who said "normalcy" has entered New Delhi now.
Meanwhile, several protesters, including Yogendra Yadav, have been detained
Mandi House and Red Fort became the epicenter of protests in Delhi, with hundreds of people taking to streets against the Citizenship Act. In chilling winter, protesters raised slogans demanding a rollback of the contentious law, which will make it easier for persecuted non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, to get Indian citizenship. To "control the situation", cops detained many, including Yogendra Yadav.
It is an honor to be detained: Yadav
Similarly in Bengaluru, historian Ramachandra Guha was detained
Like New Delhi, protesters also dotted streets in Bengaluru. Noted historian Ramachandra Guha was among those who arrived at Town Hall to raise his voice. However, Guha, who has written celebrated books like India After Gandhi, was detained. Clips that have emerged from the spot showed Guha arguing with cops as they forcefully took him away. Reportedly, over 200 people have been detained.
