Kashmir: Govt says ‘no’ to lifting pre-paid mobile ban

Despite intense speculation that the Indian government may lift the ban on pre-paid mobile services in the sensitive border State of Jammu and Kashmir, imposed in the wake of militants misusing them, it has been made clear the ban won’t be revoked for security reasons.

There has been lot of resentment in the Kashmir Valley over the ban and people have held protest rallies. Reacting to public sentiments, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah too took up the matter with Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram for a review of the ban. But security and intelligence agencies had lobbied for the ban.

The Supreme Court heard petitions filed on behalf of the Jammu and Kashmir Panthers Party, which challenged the decision, arguing if such was the concern of the Centre over “national interest” then there should also be a stay on many of the schemes introduced for post-paid connections. But the Centre informed the Apex Court in New Delhi on Jan 8, that the ban on pre-paid mobile services would continue in Jammu and Kashmir as it had decided not to revoke the decision for security reasons.

"We cannot revoke the ban. It is because of security reasons that the ban on pre-paid mobile services has been imposed,” Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium told a bench comprising Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan and Justice B. S. Chauhan. He placed an 11-page affidavit on behalf of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) explaining the grounds for banning pre-paid mobile services in the State after which the bench asked the petitioner to file the reply and posted the matter for further hearing on January 25. The Centre, in its affidavit, said the decision to ban pre-paid mobile service was taken in “national interest” under the provisions of Unified Access Service (UAS) and Cellular Mobile Telecom Service (CMTS) licenses as the terrorists and those linked to them were misusing the facility.

The affirmation of the Central Government’s decision is unlikely to go down well with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and a revival of the campaign against the ban is likely. But there are indications that the the Centre is not totally immune to the sensitiveness of the issue in the Valley and is finalising a “fool-proof” plan to ensure proper verification of nearly 38 million cell phone subscribers in the State.

The Union Home Ministry had imposed a ban on pre-paid mobile phone services on November 1, 2009 and Home Minister P. Chidambaram had recently said that if the service providers come up with a fool-proof plan of 100 per cent verification and the Ministry was satisfied with it then the issue may be revisited. The government had ordered that no fresh pre-paid mobile connections be issued in Jammu and Kashmir and existing pre-paid SIM cards should not be renewed after November 1 due to reasons of security.

The Omar Abdullah State government had suggested a policy for the telecom operators for resuming pre-paid mobile services in the State which should include stringent action besides financial penalties for firms not complying with verification process. Omar Abdullah had argued that his State should not be treated separately as there were other States experiencing violence as well. The ban left hundreds of youth unemployed. Activists of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Youth Federation had staged demonstrations in Srinagar over the issue.

The Central Government has reiterated that the country, especially Jammu and Kashmir, remains vulnerable to militant attacks sponsored by forces from across the border.

Complimenting the State police and CRPF for successfully eliminating two militants in Lal Chowk area of Srinagar on Jan 7, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the militants were in communication with their handlers outside the country. He said at the same time, the country’s capacity to neutralize a militant attack has also increased considerably.

In the first daring terrorist attack in the New Year at Lal Chowk, in the heart of Srinagar, two militants had fought with the police and CRPF forces for over 24 hours before being shot dead on Jan 7. The two who had taken refuge inside a hotel and killed were identified as Qari from Pakistan and Usman, a local from Sopore. The police personnel went from room to room and eliminated both of them. The hotel was totally burnt down in the cross-fire.

- Asian Tribune -