In a letter to Home Minister L K Advani, COFI president Roop Sharma demanded that the Government give protection to cable networks, particularly in Maharashtra, against cutting of cables and damage to equipment.

She also expressed apprehension that there was a danger to lives of hundreds of cable operators from the Shiv Sainiks and deplored the ``acts of vandalism by the Shiv Sena''.

Taking strong objection to the announcement by Cable Sena, a cable operators wing of Shiv Sena in Mumbai, the COFI president said the cable business had nothing to do with politics.

``Cable operators provide information, education and entertainment to the masses and sports programmes, particularly cricket matches, have the largest viewership on cable networks and we cannot be deniedthe right to do our business peacefully and deprive our subscribers of seeing their choice programmes'', she said.