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A New Year ‘gift’
Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Ltd suspends all public STD and ISD facilities as well as
Internet services to the state
In a cynical and cruel gift to
the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, the central government suspended all
public, outgoing STD and ISD facilities out of the state. In one sweep,
students have been cut off from the Internet, thus denying access to
professional information affecting their prospects, businessmen have suffered
losses from being out of touch with clients outside and thousands of STD/ISD
booth-owners rehabilitated by the state government through employment in this
sector have found their livelihood snatched away. Thousands of families who
have their offspring studying or living outside the state have been personally
affected by the severance of telecommunications.
Speaking to the media, senior libertarian and
writer, Balraj Puri described this move as yet “another step in the isolation of
the people of Jammu and Kashmir.’’ The ostensible rationale behind this
decision, which has generated outrage in different sections of the state, was to
prevent misuse of communications by dangerous militants. The December 13 attack
on Parliament prompted this decision.
Lines were cut under orders from the
Communications ministry. Following a decision of the Cabinet Committee on
Security (CCS) chaired by the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Ltd suspended all public STD and ISD facilities, as well as
Internet services out of the state.
Around 2,500 PCO owners have been rendered
jobless, as also hundreds of cyber cafe owners as a direct result of this move.
Political parties across the spectrum have condemned the Centre’s decision.
“Whatever business was left is gone now. We cannot
even talk outside the Valley,’’ said a Srinagar businessman, Muzaffar Ahmed. “If
the attack on Parliament is the reason for these things then mobile phones
should be banned in Delhi where the militants used the same,’’ he argued. “This
is a move to push us into the Stone Age,’’ said Ishfaq Ahmed, a student.
Even the BJP’s state vice-president, Abdur Rasheed Kabuli, expressed anguish
over the decision when he spoke to The Hindu. “This should not have been done’’
he said. “If there is going to be war and such steps are needed, the government
should explain to the people. The ban will lead to further alienation.’’
Senior leader of the People’s Democratic Party and
prominent Supreme Court lawyer, Muzaffar Hussain Beig, said the government move
was a denial of basic rights guaranteed under the Constitution. “The Government
cannot do this unless emergency is declared in the country,’’ he said.
While militants are still at liberty to
communicate through walkie-talkies and satellite phones, a Srinagar housewife
cannot use a PCO to speak to her sister in Baramulla, a pujari in Jammu cannot
speak to his son in Texas and correspondents in the state can no longer file
news via the Internet or PCO fax!
Private subscribers and offices can still call the
rest of the country, but the majority of people in J&K who rely on PCOs to
communicate with the outside world have been thrown into the telephonic
equivalent of solitary confinement. The moot question on everyone’s lips is why
this desire to further alienate the people of the state? This is indeed a tricky
question to answer.
—TS
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