Prepaid Phone Ban Stirs Anger In Indian Kashmir

AIJAZ HUSSAIN

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — A government ban on prepaid cell phones to prevent rebels from using them to clandestinely plan attacks has stirred resentment among Indian-controlled Kashmir's impoverished residents, who depend on prepaid connections for inexpensive communication.

The move has led to angry protests amid warnings it put thousands of jobs at risk and jeopardized peace efforts in the disputed territory between the Indian government and Muslim separatists.

Authorities believe rebels use fake documents to obtain the phone cards to evade detection and detonate bombs. The Indian government announced last month that no new cards would be issued beginning Nov. 1.

"We have to reconcile the security of the country and the interest of service providers and whatever decision is in the interest of the country will be taken," Home Minister P. Chidambaram said last week during a visit to Jammu-Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state.

Communications have long been a sensitive subject in Kashmir, which is split between nuclear-rivals India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. Rebels have been fighting for independence from Hindu-majority India or a merger with mostly Muslim Pakistan since 1989. More than 68,000 people have died.