Mumbai: Mobile Internet service resumed in Assam on Friday morning, the tenth day after it was banned during protests against the disputed Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Although the Gauhati High Court had ordered its reinstatement till 5 pm on Thursday evening, the state government had not issued any directive to the mobile operators to implement the court’s direction.
“We did not receive any further communication from the government to continue with the ban, so we resumed the service for our customers,” a senior official of private operator Airtel told PTI.
Other operators like state-owned BSNL, Reliance Jio and Vodafone have also resumed their services. Mobile and broadband Internet services were suspended on the evening of 11 December, following incidents of violence during protests against the amended Citizenship Act.
Other operators like state-owned BSNL, Reliance Jio and Vodafone have also resumed their services. Mobile and broadband Internet services were suspended on the evening of 11 December, following incidents of violence during protests against the amended Citizenship Act.
Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said on Thursday evening that the mobile Internet service would be resumed from Friday. Earlier during the day, the Gauhati High Court directed the Assam government to restore mobile internet service by 5 pm on Thursday evening.
Assam staged the worst violent protests in its history with three railway stations, post offices, banks, bus terminus, shops, dozens of vehicles and many other public properties being set on fire or completely damaged.
After the Rajya Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill last week, the state erupted in uncontrolled protests, with agitators engaged in pitch fighting in almost every major city or town, forcing the administration to impose a curfew.
Many towns and cities were placed under indefinite curfew, including Guwahati, the centre of protests, besides Dibrugarh, Tezpur and Dhekiajuli.
Night curfew was imposed in Jorhat, Golaghat, Tinsukia and Charaidev districts. With the situation normal, curfew has been lifted from many cities and rest has been relaxed.
(With PTI Inputs)
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