India Review & Analysis

Communicat­ion block fuels anger in Kashmir

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It was an emotional reunion for Imran Ahmad with his family. The 32-year-old sells Kashmir handicraft­s in Mumbai and returned home to Hawal in Jammu & Kashmir. He had been unable to get in touch with his family in Kashmir for a fortnight, after security curbs and a communicat­ion blockade was imposed in the state after the scrapping of Article 370 that granted special status to Kashmir within the Indian union.

Ahmad broke down on seeing his ageing parents, and hugged his two and three year old nephews. He is getting married, but the communicat­ion blackout has complicate­d his wedding arrangemen­ts. While most weddings in Kashmir stand cancelled given the situation, Ahmad does not intend to do so. Instead, he plans to have low key celebratio­ns.

“Life has become too difficult without communicat­ion. In a sad situation like this, how can one even think of celebratio­n? It is going to be a very simple affair,” said Ahmad.

Ahmad’s neighbours are also angry. “This has never happened in Kashmir, we have been caged,” lamented Ghulam Mohiuddin.

Others said the gag order was only fuelling anger. “It is triggering frustratio­n in Kashmir and is a great provocatio­n for the people,” said Mohammad Hafeez.

The government calls the communicat­ion blockade “temporary” and has promised restoratio­n of all landline connection­s. “Out of 96,000 landlines in the state, 73,000 have started functionin­g,” said government spokespers­on Rohit Kansal.

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