Gloomy situation continues to prevail in IOK on 140th day

SRINAGAR (KMS) – In Occupied Kashmir, the night temperatures across Occupied Kashmir Valley and in Ladakh dropped to freezing levels amid the gloomy situation continues to prevail particularly in the Valley and parts of Jammu region on 140th consecutive day on Sunday. People continue to suffer immensely due to unrelenting military siege and lockdown. Restrictions under Section 144 remain in place while prepaid mobile phone, text messaging and internet services continue to be snapped. Start ups have become one of the worst casualties of the Internet blockade in Kashmir Valley. The ban on Internet has dealt a severe blow to the small ventures employing hundreds of people. The Internet ban has also impacted the courier services as online tracking of the courier has come to a halt. The courier service providers face the problem of contacting their customers as most of them have provided their pre-paid mobile numbers for contacting them, which is blocked in Occupied Kashmir by the Indian government. The smartphone business has also crippled due to the Internet suspension. According to the mobile dealers, the sales have come down by 90 per cent. Meanwhile, leading US Democratic presidential aspirants – Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren – and two other US lawmakers, including senator Kamala Harris, have come out in support of Indian-American Congresswoman, Pramila Jayapal after Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar cancelled his meeting with a Congressional committee as Jayapal was invited to be a part of that group. Senators Sanders, Warren and other lawmakers tweeted to express their support for Jayapal, accusing Jaishankar and India of trying to silence the voice of a US lawmaker. Indian police arrested Farooq Ahmad and Muhammad Sultan, the two brothers of Hurriyat leader, Molvi Bashir Ahmad and raided his sister’s house and beat up the family members.