INTERNET SERVICES CUT
After Hizbul militant Sabzar Bhat was killed in an encounter by security forces in Pulwama, services were snapped just hours after government lifted the onemonth long ban on social media that was imposed on April 26
Mobile internet services were snapped as protests started on the streets of Valley soon after news broke that popular militant Sabzar Bhat was killed in an encounter on Saturday morning.
The suspension of mobile internet services came hours after the month-long ban on 22 social media and messaging platforms in Kashmir was revoked.
Bhat was gunned down in south Kashmir’s Tral where forces raided a hideout on Friday evening. The encounter continued into Saturday, with Bhat and another militant Faizan confirmed dead.
The ban, ordered on April 26, clamped down on popular sites, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, QQ, WeChat, Ozone, Tumblr, Google+, Baidu, Skype, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Pinterest, Telegram, Reddit, Snapfish, YouTube, Vine, Buzznet, Xanga and Flickr.
The irony, people said, was that only by late Friday night they could access social media sites without any hassle and soon after they were left dejected as mobile internet services were snapped by Saturday noon.
The government’s ban order had said the step was being taken because “...it has been felt that continued misuse of social networking sites and instant mes- saging services is likely to be detrimental to the interest of peace and tranquillity of the state”.
Even as the ban was implemented, Kashmiris turned to freely available technology like Virtual Private Network (VPN) and encrypted messenger services such as Signal to beat it.
During the ban, what had come as a surprise for many was that the who’s who of Kashmir were using Facebook and Twitter unhindered.
Leaders of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the opposition, government officials, and even top cops were found circumventing the ban.
The news of Sabzar Bhat’s death triggered violent protests in several parts of the Valley, and pellet injuries were also reported from some parts of south Kashmir.
The word on the streets of Srinagar is that people are praying that the “situation” doesn’t become as it had after the death of militant Burhan Wani in July last year.