Srinagar: Internet services will be restored in Kashmir in phases once the situation turns “more normal”, Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor GC Murmu said on Wednesday (Dec. 4).
“We are reviewing it (internet ban) and as it (situation) becomes more normal, we will do it (restore) phase-wise. We have already discussed it with our administration and we are taking it up,” Murmu told reporters on the sidelines of the passing-out parade of police recruits at the Police Training Centre, Sheeri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
The journalists were holding their laptops in their hands and carried placards, which read- 100 days, No Internet (File Photo – November 13, 2019)
However, he gave no timeline for restoration of internet services, which were snapped across all platforms in the Kashmir valley on August 5 ahead of the abrogation of Article 370, notes a report in Hindustan Times (HT).
As internet remained snapped in the Valley, journalists were forced to use the government facility setup inside J&K information department office to dispatch their stories and browse email and newspapers, the report notes.
Safwat Zarger, who works with a news portal said being a journalist they often rely on the internet for research and background checks. However, at present this can’t be done. “The government media centre violates the privacy of every journalist. We don’t know whether we are being monitored at the government centre or not,” he said.