MojNews-Restrictions on freedom of movement in Kashmir will be eased after Independence Day on Thursday, the state governor has said, although phone lines and the Internet will remain cut off.
Satya Pal Malik told Wednesday’s Times of India that communications will stay blocked as India’s government relaxes its clampdown since it stripped the region of its autonomy in early August.
“We don’t want to give that instrument to the enemy until things settle down,” Malik told the paper in an interview.
“In a week or 10 days, everything will be alright and we will gradually open lines of communication,” he said.
Fearing unrest, India snapped telecommunications and imposed a curfew in the part of Kashmir it controls on August 4, a day before its surprise presidential decree to strip the Muslim-majority region of its special status.
Tens of thousands of troop reinforcements have been deployed to the main city of Srinagar and other towns and villages, turning the picturesque city into a deserted warren of barbed wire and barricades.
The lockdown has not completely prevented protests, however.