The ‘X” account of Ramandeep Singh Mann, a farmers’ leader based in Haryana, was withheld in India on Tuesday, while farmers belonging to 78 unions tried to march towards Delhi to demand a law to protect minimum support price.
Mann has been mobilising villagers in Haryana for Tuesday’s protest, to foil which the government has taken several steps. Why Mann’s account was withheld in India is not clear. If clicked, his X profile opens with the message: “ramanmann1974 account has been withheld in IN (India) in response to a legal demand.”
What X says: Many countries including the United States, have laws that may apply to posts/and/or X account content. In our continuing effort to make our services available to people everywhere, if we receive a valid and properly scoped request from an authorised entity, it may be necessary to withhold access to certain content in a particular country from time to time. Such withholdings will be limited to the specific jurisdiction that has issued valid legal demand or where the content has been found to violate local law(s).
The exact content on Mann’s account which prompted the “legal demand” could be verified.
X says: If you see the above message, it means X was compelled to withhold the original post in response to a valid legal demand, such as a court order.
A week ago Mann had told The Telegraph Online: MSP has no legal sanctity yet. This was one of our primary demands (during the 2020-21 farmers’ protest). We have waited for two years and now want the government to answer whether they accept it or not.”
“Hello Elon Musk, just wanted to tell you that ramanmann1974 is one of the finest citizens and one of the better voices of India’s farmers. Blocking his handle un India dents your own platform and credibility”, a Mumbai-based lawyer posted in support of Mann.
The government has set up road blockades on the highway connecting Punjab and Haryana to the national capital Delhi, towards which the farmers are moving on their tractors since last night.
IN Haryana: The state’s border with Punjab have been fortified in Ambala, Jind, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra and Sira with concrete blocks, iron nails and barbed wires. Teargas shells were fired using
“Haryana Police is testing the dropping of tear gas shells from the sky using drones. They didn’t do it when the BJP mob started a riot in Nuh. But they are using it now --- against unarmed innocent farmers marching for their rights. BJP hates farmers,” Trinamul’s Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale, wrote on his X account.
Some protestors wore gas masks to avoid the impact of the tear gas shells.
IN Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party government turned down a proposal from the central government to turn the Bawana stadium into a temporary jail. The Delhi government justified its stand, saying it supported the demands of the farmers, many of them from Punjab, where the party runs the government, and they have the right to protest peacefully.
Residents complained that the police in Delhi and adjoining Noida were slowing down vehicles and frisking them for farmers.
Supreme Court Bar Association wrote to the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, requesting: Initiate suo moto action against erring farmers and for issuing directions of “no adverse orders” by courts due to farmers’ agitation.
