Published: January 26, 2010

Mobiles Jammed in Kashmir, Indian Flag Not Hoisted in City Centre

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Srinagar, Jan 26: The mobile services in Indian administered Kashmir were jammed by authorities for five hours on Tuesday to ensure smooth conduct of India's Republic Day functions in Kashmir while for the first time in 19 years of turmoil, the Indian flag was not unfurled at historic Lal Chowk.

Ahead of the start of official functions marking India's Republic Day, the authorities jammed all mobile services in Kashmir. There was no signal on mobile phones of the government owned or private service providers.

Owing to jamming of services, the subscribers faced tough time and could not contact their near and dear ones for nearly five hours. The service was jammed from 0800 to 1300 hours.

"Owing to security reasons, we had to jam the mobile services," a senior police officer said.

Meanwhile, for the first time in past 19 years, the Indian flag was not hoisted in the historic Lal Chowk, the nerve centre of the summer capital, Srinagar.

The security agencies used to unfurl the Indian flag on the clock tower popularly known as "Ghanta Ghar" in Kashmir since 1991.

The flag was being hoisted at the clock tower ever since 1991 when India's pro-Hindutva BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi unfurled the flag despite militant treats.

The authorities have not given any official reason for not hosting the Indian flag in Lal Chowk, which recently witnessed a fierce 22-hour long gunfight between militants and Indian security forces. Two militants, a policeman and a civilian were killed in the gunfight.

Meanwhile, all the January 26 functions in Kashmir passed off peacefully without any militancy incident reported from anywhere in the region.

Fayaz Wani reports on life in Srinagar, Kashmir.