4G seesaw? Here’s what has happened so far
Srinagar, Mar 26: As coronavirus continues devouring lives and closing down the entire world, the persistent shutdown of high-speed mobile internet in J&K has peeved the residents here, who believe that absence of such a cardinal facility is a great hurdle in speedy healthcare and dissemination of vital information.
What has equally flustered the residents is the flip-flop reports regarding the restoration of 4g internet.
Wednesday saw a seesaw of such reports where first a fake order on 4g restoration was shared thousands of times on social media, then a reputed local news agency GNS quoted MHA Minister confirming restoration was on the cards.
“We have directed the Chief Secretary of the UT and the 4G internet services in Jammu and Kashmir will be restored shortly,” the news agency quoted Minister of State for Home, G Kishan Reddy saying over the phone.
A few hours later, as the news about 4g restoration was picked up by several news portals, the Ministry of Home Affairs denied the report.
“Neither the Ministry of Home Affairs nor the Government of India has issued any such orders. The news report is not true,” news agency ANI reported.
To further bamboozle the residents, the Mayor of Srinagar Junaid Mattu – who these days is a Twitter celebrity in Kashmir by all means given his work to contain the pandemic – grandly announced that 4G restoration was on the cards.
The Mayor even went ahead giving his regards to the government of India.
“Good news about #4g restoration in Kashmir coming very soon. Will go a long way in helping in the current circumstances. Gratitude to the Administration and the Central Govt(sic),” he tweeted.
He was soon asked by a journalist Rifat Abdullah if he would delete the tweet as MHA was denying any such plan. To it, the Mayor wrote: “I don’t delete my tweets. Relax Rifat. I have credible information to believe there is going to be positive headway on #4g very soon. I’d rather be a fool than a cynic. If it doesn’t happen – I’ll try MORE and KEEP trying till it happens. Cynicism is a luxury I can’t afford,” Junaid replied.
And then finally, it was icing on the cake when Omar Abdullah, the long-gone-ever-active-on-Twitter-before-August5, made his comment.
The former J&K CM tweeted: “If you are going to restore our 4g then please just go ahead & do it. Stop messing with our heads with these “orders” “fake orders” & “denials”. Why should we be made to feel like beggars for restoration of basic services the rest of the nation take for granted?”
KM
