SMS ban on prepaid connections lifted in Valley

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday lifted the ban on SMS on the prepaid mobile phone services in the state.

The ban on the SMS on both prepaid and post-paid services was imposed in June 2010 after months of unrest in the Valley which claimed 110 lives.

“On the instructions of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the restriction on SMS to the pre-paid cell phones in the state has been revoked. The subscribers of prepaid cell phones had made requests to the chief minister in this regard and he issued instructions to the concerned agencies to lift the said restriction,” an official statement said on Tuesday evening.

Authorities had lifted the ban on SMS on the post-paid mobile connections in December 2010.

The decision came just four days after the ruling National Conference was routed in the parliamentary elections which saw all its three candidates, including the party president Dr Farooq Abdullah, being defeated by their rival Peoples Democratic Party candidates.

The ruling NC has been holding introspection meetings to fix causes that led to the defeat of its candidates in the Valley’s three seats.

The chief minister has ascribed the defeat to the 2010 happenings and the hanging of Afzal Guru. The chief minister promised several measures to refurbish the party for the upcoming assembly polls slated for December 2014.

Image: A Kashmiri man speaks on his mobile phone in Srinagar

Photograph: Mukesh Gupta/Reuters