Post-paid mobiles ring in Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Several mobile phones rang out simultaneously across Kashmir for the first time on Monday since August 5, bringing some relief to residents, isolated and longing to reach out to their loved ones outside the Valley and inside too since the Centre revoked J&K’s special status.

As announced by the authorities earlier, only post-paid mobile service on all networks was restored on Monday noon, evoking a mixed reaction.

For now only voice calls and SMSes work. Prepaid mobile phones and other internet services, including WhatsApp, remain deactivated.

About 40 lakh post-paid mobile phones have become operational, officials said. “All post-paid mobile phones, irrespective of the telecom service provider and covering all the 10 districts of the Valley, stand restored and functional now,” officials said. However, according to statistics made available by various service providers, the Valley has around 20 lakh post-paid and over 60 lakh pre-paid mobile phones.

“We’ve been denied this basic facility for more than two months. They have now restored the post-paid mobile phone services which is too little and too late,” said Zubair Ahmed, a Srinagar resident. But for others it was no less than Eid, a time to reconnect with family and friends, and get back to much needed business after being cut off from the world outside their homes for 72 days.

Basharat Ahmad, a resident of the old city, lost no time in calling his friends and relatives within Kashmir and outside to just hear their voices after the long gap. In just an hour, he made 30 calls. For Nighat Shah, it was Eid all over again. “This day is no less than Eid for us,” she said.

Her brother, Masroor, used the mobile phone to wish “Eid Mubarak” to his wife Sumaira in Dehradun. Eid was on August 12 this year, exactly a week after the communication blackout.

Mushtaq Ahmed, editor of a local weekly, said that restoration of post-paid mobile service “will not make a big difference.”

“We, the media persons, have suffered enormously in the absence of mobile and internet service. So have tourists, traders, students and medical fraternity. They should have restored the broadband service. At least, media persons should get it without further delay,” he said.

However, Governor Satya Pal Malik once again justified the communication blackout ordered in J&K a night before the state was stripped of its special status under Article 370  and split into two UTs, saying the safety of Kashmiris was more important than mobile service. He reiterated that mobile phone services were being used by militants for their activities and mobilisation.

“People used to make noise that there is no telephone. We stopped telephone services because terrorists were using them for their activities, mobilisation and indoctrination,” Mr Malik said while speaking at an official function in frontier district of Kathua. He added, “For us, the life of a Kashmiris was important and not telephone. People were living without telephones earlier also.”