Srinagar, September 05, 2019 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, with no cable TV services and Internet available, direct-to-home (DTH) Dish TV connections and transistor radio sets are in high demand since August 5 when the Indian government imposed communication clampdown in the valley. Phone connectivity and Internet services continued to remain suspended for the 32nd consecutive day on Thursday.
Unable to watch TV channels as cable TV operators have also shut down operations, the demand for DTH Dish TV connections has soared in Kashmir. “I have installed over three dozen DTH connections in parts of Srinagar city and the queues of customers are unending despite restrictions imposed by officials on civilian movement,” said Abdul Hamid, a Dish TV vendor in Srinagar.
With news hard to come due to restrictions on free movement in the valley, domestic and foreign TV channels have become a primary source of news for the people. “We are now completely dependent on news aired by different TV channels as the communication blackout has made it impossible to know what is happening in the rest of the territory,” said Muhammad Shafi, who lives in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.
People unable to afford a DTH connection are turning to transistor radio sets for news. Almost overnight, the radio has made a nostalgic comeback in occupied Kashmir. “Leave apart the cacophony of aggressive and confusing news-based discussions on TV channels, I find the radio a highly dependable source of authentic news these days,” said Ghulam Hassan of Sopore town.
For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
Fax: +92-51-4861736
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Website: www.kmsnews.org