SRINAGAR: The curfew and communications blockage in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) continues to remain cut off from the rest of the world on the 214th consecutive days on Thursday.
There is a shortage of food and medicines, while heavy snowfall has multiplied the miseries of the hapless Kashmiri people. Since 5th August 2019, the Indian government has placed a curfew in IoK by revoking the special status of occupied Kashmir.
Restrictions under section 144 and total ban on internet and prepaid mobile services remain enforced. Public transport is off the roads. Shops and business centers barring a few hours in the morning and evening continue to remain shut.
Educational institutions and offices are open yet very few show up there. Normal life remains disabled in IoK and parts of the occupied valley. Shops and business establishments remain closed most of the time except for a few hours in the morning and evening.
On January 10, Indian Supreme Court ruled the communications blackout in occupied Kashmir as unconstitutional and ordered the government to review all restrictions, including suspension of internet service, in occupied Kashmir within a week.
The court ruled that shutting down the internet in occupied Kashmir was unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court also directed the Indian government to make public all orders imposing a lockdown in Kashmir in August after the constitution’s Article 370 granting Kashmir’s special status was revoked.
An indefinite suspension of the internet is a violation of the country’s telecoms rules, the court said, ordering authorities in occupied Kashmir to review all curbs in a week’s time.
Read more: Curfew, communication blockage enters 207th day in IoK
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