SRINAGAR – Residents of Kashmir faced restrictions again on Sunday after a brief reprieve from communication blackout imposed by the Indian authorities.
Authorities in Indian-Occupied Kashmir reimposed limits on people’s movement after overnight skirmishes between residents and police left dozens injured.
Media reports citing officials say at least two dozen people were taken to hospitals with pellet injuries after clashes in the region’s biggest city, Srinagar, late on Saturday.
After a short relief from restrictions, mobile internet services have been once again suspended in five districts of Jammu region (Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Udhampur and Reasi) as the authorities had earlier restored the low-speed (2G) mobile internet services in these districts.
“We’ll endeavor that landline communication is restored to its full functionality as soon as possible, subject to physical limitation that BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) is facing,” J&K Principal Secretary (Planning Commission) Rohit Kansal said.
“In areas where relaxation was provided, we’ve no report of any untoward incident. There are, however, very minor reports of 2-3 disturbances in areas where relaxations were not provided. These were dealt with by local security agencies,” he elaborated.
Meanwhile, flights carrying around 300 pilgrims landed at the Srinagar airport in the morning but only one family member was allowed to receive Hajis at the airport.
The crisis is turning worse owing to reports of a shortage of medicines in the valley, though New Delhi tries to portray the situation as normal.
Kashmir is under lockdown from last 14 days. New Delhi had revoked the special status granted to the valley by scrapping article 370 and 35A of the constitution.
Authorities had confirmed that in a phased manner the restrictions would be eased, however, there seems no end to the miseries of Kashmiris who have been reeling under a constant terror.
The United Nations Security Council also convened an emergency meeting on the situation in the Serene valley, with Pakistan declaring it a visible indication of Kashmir being an international dispute instead of an internal matter of India.
