Ishtiyaq Ahmed
The restoration of 2-G internet services in parts of Kashmir late yesterday evening by the authorities after a gap of five days has brought a little hope and smile on the faces of students in the Valley of unease with the majority of them saying that “the internet has a very low speed as they were not even able to access Gmail properly.”
The students, who are relying on online classes to pursue their studies in Kashmir amid lockdown in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic, claimed that the restoration of 2-G seems to be a big joke as they are not even able to access their email accounts.
The authorities in Kashmir restored 2-G internet services across Kashmir barring two districts of southern Kashmir—Pulwama and Shopian. The authorities had snapped mobile phone services including voice calls, text messages, and internet services on all platforms in the wake of the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen Chief Operation Commander for Kashmir Reyaz Naikoo on Wednesday.
Even though voice calling was restored partially, the authorities on late night yesterday restored 2-G services on all platforms. In southern Pulwama and Shopian districts, only voice calling was restored while as mobile internet continued to remain suspended there.
The student community while expressed their deep anguish over the slow speed of 2-G services said as they tried to access Gmail accounts, it took them 20 minutes to see their emails as internet speed was too low. “We are not even able to attend our online classes as internet speed is very low.
Online classes buffer after every second. This internet irritates a lot,” Asim Shabir, a student of Class 8 at Delhi Public School (DPS) Srinagar told news agency KINS.
Sumaiya Qureshi, another student preparing for NEET, said that earlier at least 2-G services would help open web pages and listen to the youtube lessons without very less buffering but since yesterday evening, “we are not even able to access our mails while youtube is not opening at all.”
She said that whenever she tries to participate in online lessons or lectures, a message flashed on her screen, “Check your internet connection.”
Her friend, Tabasum Jan, alleged that, “authorities were playing with the career of students. We fail to understand when no law and order situation took place anywhere in Kashmir, the internet was shut for five days. These five days mean a lot to us. Authorities are not bothered about our future. Now restoring 2-G which is not even 1-G, is another mockery they are making in the name of restoring internet services.”
It may be recalled that 4-G internet services were snapped on August 4 last year across J&K and continue to remain suspended till date.
On Monday, the Supreme Court directed a penal led by MHA secretary to study the pleas seeking restoration of 4-Services. The security grid in Kashmir has been opposing the restoration of high-speed internet services in the Valley citing its “misuse from across LoC as a major reason.”(KINS)
