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covid-19
Kashmir shut,
but for a different
reason
The state is under lockdown again and this time no one is
complaining, writes RIYAZ WANI
ike in most places in the country, streets of so despite several major leaders adding their voice to
Srinagar wear a deserted look. Security forc- the growing chorus of the demand for 4G.
es have drawn concertina wires across the On March 19, newly released National Conference
Lroads to discourage free movement of peo- leader Dr Farooq Abdullah wrote a letter to the Prime
ple. Kashmir is once again under a lockdown. And Minister Narendra Modi for the restoration of 4G. A
for once nobody is complaining. Everyone under- similar demand was made by the leader of the newly
stands the importance of a shutdown in the fight launched Apni Party Altaf Bukhari. Or for that matter
against Coronavirus. More so, when the Valley has Chairman of the moderate Hurriyat Conference Mir-
fewer resources to control an outbreak. Ditto for waiz Umar Farooq also sought high speed internet to
the province of Jammu. tide over the information gap but to no avail.
For a population of eight million people, Kashmir Government, on the other hand, has cited the
has just 97 ventilators and a meagre 97,000 N95 security situation in the union territory to continue
masks. Similarly, only 4,000 sanitisers are available the ban. The government order prolonging the ban
with the health authorities. Though orders for the says doing so is necessary “in the interest of the sov-
more preventive medical gear have been placed, ereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state
government doesn’t expect these anytime soon as and for maintaining public order”.
across the world demand is outrunning supply. But this order runs up against the reality on the
This lack of resources has made prevention of ground. Leave alone the urgency of a high-speed
the infection the only way the government can deal internet for creating awareness among people, the
with unfolding crisis. More so, after the detection of Valley has been peaceful over the past four months.
the Valley’s first COVID-19 positive case on March This hardly validates the security argument proffered
18. The patient had just returned from Saudi Arabia by the government.
after performing Umrah. Thereafter government Meanwhile, J&K can take heart from the fact that so
scrambled to initiate a slew of measures to arrest far only fewer than four COVID-19 positive cases have
further infections. It asked people to sit at home been detected - three in Jammu and one in Kashmir.
and banned public transport. And within no time, However, there is as yet no knowing how many
almost all J&K was home. more might still be there undetected. More so, when
However, what the government did not do was the government seems to have woken up late to
to restore the 4G internet that would have helped the crisis.
people to stay informed about the developments “We can only hope against hope that the number of
related to disease. This has made people angry. cases doesn’t grow. And God forbid if it does, it won’t
“High speed internet is critical to real-time dis- be easy for us to get a handle on this,” said an epide-
semination of information about the disease miologist at the Valley’s tertiary care SMHS hospital.
among people,” said Waseem Parray, a business- “So, only a pre-emptive preventive approach geared
man. “Such information will empower people to to achieve the maximum social distancing is the way
observe precautions to protect themselves from to go”.
the disease taking the pressure off the government”.
But the government has so far baulked at doing letters@tehelka.com
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