A security man stands guard during the ninth day of curfew in Srinagar on Sunday. AFP
Azhar Qadri
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, July 17
The phones have not rung for the last three days and newspapers were not printed on Sunday as the government imposed an information blackout, leaving residents unaware about what is happening and what will happen next. No one in Kashmir has an answer to what will happen the next day. Each new death creates more anger and diminishes any hope of the region returning to its routine business.At the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital in the city here, where volunteers and relief organisations have established free medicine and food stalls, there is no answer to what will happen. “There is no news about what is happening in the south (Kashmir) and north (Kashmir), so one has no idea what is the situation today,” said Bashir Ahmad, a volunteer at the SMHS Hospital.The clampdown on information has not only impacted the civilian population of the region but also government and police officials. On Sunday afternoon, as a rumour went wild that there has been a fresh casualty in north Kashmir, police officials admitted there was some report about it but they were struggling to confirm its veracity.The mobile phone and internet services were initially suspended in south Kashmir on Friday night, hours after militant commander Burhan Wani was killed. Wani’s killing sparked widespread protests and 38 civilians were killed and hundreds injured as police attempted to quell the demonstrations.As protests intensified, the state government ordered a shutdown of mobile phone and internet services across the entire Kashmir valley, which is still in place. The government also ordered suspension of newspapers in the region which has further created an information blackout.The government officials also have no information about the functioning of their departments. “We are disconnected from our officers and ministers. Things will be restored once communication is restored,” an official of the education department said.