Kashmir cracks down on text messages

Kashmiri pedestrians speak on a cellular telephone in Srinagar yesterday while India has restricted mobile phone users in Kashmir from sending SMS text messages, causing anger on the streets and provoking the ire of the volatile region's chief minister. In an unexpected announcement, India's telecommunications and information technology ministries banned subscribers with monthly contracts from sending SMSs, while pre-paid mobile users will be limited to 10 messages a day. There was no explanation for the move beyond saying it was "in the interest of the national security". Photo: AFP

India yesterday banned some phone users in insurgency-hit Kashmir from sending SMS text messages in a new crackdown "in the interest of national security", a statement said.
There was no further explanation for the move, which is likely to provoke protests in the volatile Muslim-majority region, as did a previous attempt to ban pre-paid mobile phones last year.
A statement by India's Telecommunications and Information Technology ministries said the ban would apply to subscribers with monthly contracts, while pre-paid mobile users would be limited to sending 10 messages per day.
It said the "instructions have been issued in the interest of the national security".
Mobile phones were launched in Kashmir only in 2003 after security agencies gave the go-ahead.
In October last year the pre-paid versions were banned after reports that they were being used by militants, who have waged a 20-year fight against Indian rule and the thousands of security forces in the Himalayan region.