Kashmir based news portals are in off-line mode since August 5 when the Government of India imposed communication clampdown after scrapping the state’s special status, carving it up into two Union Territories and revoking Article 35A, which gave Jammu and Kashmir the power to define permanent residents and grant specific rights, including the right to own land.
Scores of websites from Kashmir have last been updated in the early hours of August 5 and till date these portals have frozen in time. Even newspapers in Kashmir are not able to update their websites.
Shahid Imran who operates ‘Kashmir Crown’ said that he suffered huge losses due to communication clampdown. I have to shut my two offices in North Kashmir and cut the salaries of several employees. I was not expecting a lockdown of this magnitude. This time it was a disaster for all and Journalists suffered heavily,” he said.
There is media facilitation centre that was actually set up by Department of Information and Public Relations for non-local TV Journalists who thronged Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. These Journalists availed internet facility there but local Journalists also started visiting it after the departure of non-local Journalists and since then the media facilitation centre has become a meeting point for all the local Journalists-working both for local and international media outlets.
“You don’t get enough time to update your website at this Centre and if you will do, it will naturally send a wrong signal. When internet is shut across Kashmir, how can we update our website for non-local subscribers who would feel that there is no communication blockade in Kashmir and everything is normal,” said Sajad Ahmed said.
Irfan Ahmed who runs ‘Kashmir Patriot’ said that updating a website in Kashmir is not possible. “Internet for Journalists is available only at one place where you have to make way for others after 10 to 15 minutes. So minute to minute update is impossible and further there is now news flow on local level as communication blockade persists.”
Ishtiya Ahmed who operates ‘Roshan Kashmir’ said that he lost revenue as he failed to live up to the expectations of his sponsors. “We couldn’t upload advertisements due to internet shutdown,” he said adding that phone and internet connectivity have been restricted in Kashmir before, during mass protests in 2008, 2010 and 2016, but this time the blockade was complete and very harsh.
Almost all Kashmir based websites still reflect outdated stories on their homepage. A look at majority of these local sites shows that they have not been updated since August 5. These websites still reflects old stories.
According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), there are 1,01,465 wire line subscribers and 1,13,39,647 wireless subscribers in the Jammu and Kashmir circle. There have been 178 internet shutdowns in the area since 2012. (knt)