SWABI, May 18: Jirga members and ulema of Topi tehsil here on Friday cut off the main connection of cable operators and vowed that they would not allow cable TV transmissions in Topi and its suburbs.

In this connection, a meeting of the jirga members and local ulema was held in Pajpaw Masjid after Friday prayers. Former union council nazims of Topi West Humayun Khan and Topi East Gul Hayat, local leaders of political parties, prayer leaders and a number of people attended the meeting. Later, they marched to the cable operators’ office in main bazaar near Topi general bus stand.

Speaking on the occasion, the speakers said that they had already held meetings with district coordination officer Mohammad Shah and Topi police officers and apprised them of the intention of local people, who did not want cable TV operations in their area. They said that they had also urged the cable operators on Thursday to stop their operations, but there was no response.

The speakers said that the police authorities failed to heed to their requests to stop the transmissions. They said that people of the area were with them and they did not want cable TV programmes in their localities and as such these should be stopped.

After consultation, the participants marched to the cable operators’ office and gave them 15 minutes to cut the connection. A heavy contingent of police was also present at the scene. Later, the rally participants themselves cut off the cable near Sadiq Plaza.

“Our strategy was to avoid a clash and it worked,” said a police official when asked why they did not protect the cable operations.

Insiders said that the cable operators had got a licence from Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to run the transmissions. The licence authorised them to spread the cable and provide entertainment facilities to people in the area.

Sources quoted one of the cable operators as saying that he had got his licence after great hardship and that he did not force anyone to take a connection. However, they said that now it seemed difficult for the operators to restart their service in Topi tehsil, as there was complete unity among ulema and jirga members, most of whom were elders of the area.