Normalcy returned to Kashmir after mobile internet for postpaid phone connections were restored on Friday night. The internet services were stopped after protests broke out in the Valley following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8. Internet on prepaid mobile connections, however, remains suspended.
The state was buzzing with activity on Saturday, for the first time in four months, after separatists called off their shutdown for the weekend. Shops, fuel bunks, offices and other business establishments remained open all day, while traffic returned on the roads of Srinagar with public transport back in operation, PTI reported.
The decision to suspend the mobile internet ban on postpaid connections was made following a “considerable improvement” in the situation in Kashmir, an official told PTI. More than 90 people have been killed in unrest in the Valley since Wani’s killing, and hundreds have sustained grievous injuries during protests in the past four months.
The unrest in the state has also contributed to the worsening ties between India and Pakistan, with Islamabad criticising the Centre’s management of the clashes in Kashmir and calling for a plebiscite in the region several times. Relations between both countries soured further after a militant attack on an Army camp in Kashmir’s Uri sector and the Indian Army’s “surgical strikes” on terror camps along the Line of Control with Pakistan.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!