Srinagar: For the last one week, Sajid Khurshid Khan from Boniyar, Baramullah has barely slept. Khan, who is doing coaching for civil services in Delhi, is having nightmares regarding the safety of his family back in Kashmir and understandably so: he has not been able to speak with his family for the past one week after the government snapped all communication lines.
“I spoke to them last on July 13. Since then, all mobile phone connections in my family-Airtel, Aircel and Vodafone-have stopped working. Everyday, I wait for their call but my day ends up with receiving none,” Khan told TwoCircles.net over phone from Delhi.
Amir Bhat, 21 from Langate Handwara is another civil servant aspirant receiving coaching is Delhi and has a similar story to tell. “Only BSNL postpaid are working in Kashmir and no one in my family has that connection,” Bhat said.
As the vicious cycle of death completes two weeks in Kashmir with confirmed 50 deaths in 16 days, there seems to be no improvement in the prevailing situation. Hospitals remain packed with the injured, even as the ones already injured battle for their lives.
After the death of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani on July 8, the government responded by banning Internet in the whole state and initially suspending cellular services in South Kashmir and then extending it to whole Kashmir on July 15th.
Only postpaid services provided by BSNL, the government-run telecommunications company, are accessible in some parts of Kashmir as of now.
The suspension of cellular services has had a damning affect on the whole population of Kashmir division along with leaving their well wishers living in the rest of the country and the world with no information.
Thousands of Kashmiri students studying outside Kashmir have not heard anything from their loved ones since last one week and have been left chasing shadows, as they are unaware about when the government will lift the ban and restore services.
“Families and students outside Kashmir are worried about the welfare of their members because of no communications and no medium through which they can get information about the situation in their respective areas of Valley. The mainstream Indian media has put the renewed unrest in Kashmir under the carpet, thus depriving Kashmiri people outside the state of any updates about the prevailing situation in Kashmir,” Kashmir based activist Ezabir Ali told TwoCircles.net over her BSNL postpaid connection from Srinagar.
The suspension of cellular services has also created a room for rumours and speculation as people in Valley are left with no medium to know the events. With local cable network also banned, cross checking news and information remains a bigger challenge in this backdrop.