SMS Restored Partially In Kashmir

SMS service messages, including ‘one time passwords’ (OTPs), resumed on Tuesday for 40 lakh subscribers in Kashmir following several requests from the public, particularly the business community, officials here said. Though the Jammu and Kashmir administration allowed service providers to resume machine-based messages, subscribers will not be allowed to send any messages from their mobiles, the officials said.

The resumption of service messages will help the general public, especially business-persons, receive service messages from banks, they said. Phones fell silent on August 5, when the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and re-organized the erstwhile State into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Post-paid mobile phones in Kashmir buzzed back to life after a gap of 72 days on October 14, but SMS facilities were stopped within a few hours after the security agencies claimed militants were using SMS services to mobilize people.