A little over two months into the communications blockade and clampdown on essential services in the Valley, the administration on Friday, 11 October, took out full page ads in leading Kashmir papers urging citizens not to ‘succumb to militants’ and to not remain “trapped in an endless cycle of terrorism, violence, destruction and poverty”.
The full-page ad, that was published in Greater Kashmir, among other papers, asked citizens to resume their normal lives, open their businesses and not be swayed by propaganda and threats, in a near-acknowledgement that despite repeated statements by ministers, things are not normal in Kashmir.
Absence of cellular services, lack of medical facilities and multiple reports of violence and unrest have marked the 69 days since the government revoked special status to Jammu and Kashmir on 5 August.
The ad went on to state that Jammu and Kashmir was at a “crossroads” after being misled for 70 years. The ad urged them to consider a rightful education and secure future for their children and to let development bloom in the state again.
However, people on social media lashed out at the ad, accusing the government of making a mockery of democracy by proclaiming there was peace.
‘Proof That Shops are Closed’
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