Srinagar, August 04, 2020 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said that internet restrictions and the military siege imposed by fascist government of India in the territory on 5 August last year have caused an economic loss of Rs 400 billion in the Valley alone, and that more than five lakh people are now jobless.
KCCI President Sheikh Ashiq Ahmad in a media interview in Srinagar said, tourism, transport and handicrafts industries were hit hard by the internet restrictions. “Internet is a basic need and we have been deprived. During the pandemic, children are also suffering – even my children have online classes, and sometimes the video works on 2G and sometimes it does not,” he added.
“For export-oriented businesses like handicrafts, they rely on sending inventory files to clients on WhatsApp. You try sending files on 2G and see how difficult it is,” he said. The internet shutdown in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir was imposed on 4 August last year, a day before the special status of the territory under Article 370 of the Constitution was scrapped.
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