Post-paid mobile phones buzz again in Kashmir

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 Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and bifurcated it into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

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 phone subscribers.

“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 Id, 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. In a global era of the world becoming one, transcending borders, we were cut off from the rest of the world for more than two months,” 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 in the Valley.

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 tourist 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 of the Constitution and split into two UT, 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 Kashmiri was important and not telephone. People were living without telephones earlier also.”

The governor further said with the restoration of mobile phone services, the people can go about their normal lives and young boys and girls can reconnect with each other. “Young boys and girls were having difficulties earlier but now they can speak to each other. Now, there are no issues,” he said and assured that Internet services will also be restored in the Valley soon.

After both mobile and landline phones, as well as Internet services across Kashmir Valley and Jammu were withdrawn on the night of August 4, the landline phone services were restored, first in Jammu and then in the Valley last month. Voice calls on mobile phones started working in a few areas of frontier district of Kupwara from August 17.

Officials said that about 50,000 landline phones became operational in Jammu region from September 4. However, the mobile Internet service made available to subscribers in Jammu on August 18 was withdrawn the next day allegedly after the facility was “misused” by some people, mainly through social media. Broadband services on fixed landline phones began working in Jammu region again some time ago. Internet services remain suspended across all platforms in the Valley.

Authorities have repeatedly sought to justify the denial of access to Internet and mobile phone services in the Valley by asserting that such steps are necessary to maintain law and order and prevent violence and pointed to the relatively limited number of incidents of violence compared with previous bouts of unrest.

But the communication blockade, which has adversely affected the media and medical fraternities, students, travel organisations, trade startups, online services and others evoked severe criticism at home and abroad.

Danish Wani, a travel agent, said he can now resume his work. The absence of any form of communication had hit his livelihood and it is now time to make up the losses, he said.

“In an ideal situation, I would like Internet connectivity to also be restored. But the resumption of mobile phone services will at least help me getting back into the business. A telephone connection is of vital importance in the ticketing business,” Mr Wani said.

There are many who expressed scepticism and said the government’s move on post-paid connections is just cosmetic.

“What about the lakhs of subscribers using prepaid connections? And how will restoration of mobile phones help in restoration of normalcy in Kashmir? These steps cannot paper over the deep alienation caused by the recent decision taken by Government of India in respect of Jammu and Kashmir,” Sahil Lone, a post graduate student, said.