KASHMIRIS SEEK COMPLETE RESTORATION OF 4G INTERNET

SRINAGAR : A day after 4G service was resumed in two districts of Jammu and Kashmir, residents here have demanded full restoration of the high-speed internet saying that its absence is hampering developmental, educational and business activities in Kashmir.

The J&K administration on Sunday night restored highspeed mobile internet services for postpaid numbers in Jammu’s Udhampur and Kashmir’s Ganderbal districts on a trial basis, over a year after the facility was snapped ahead of the revocation of the erstwhile state’s special status and its bifurcation.

The order will remain in effect till September 8, unless modified, officials said.

“Even after one year, the highspeed internet was restored in only one district each of Kashmir and Jammu. This is how we are being treated after the revocation of Article 370. We have suffered huge losses over the past year due to continuous lockdown, still the government isn’t ready to give us any relief,” said tours operator Omar Khan.

“The tourism industry is already in doldrums and absence of high-speed internet is adding to our miseries,” Khan added.

Fayaz Ahmad, an industrialist based in Rangreth said life without high-speed internet is impossible in today’s world and it’s also their right. “Unfortunately, we are denied this right,” he said.