Delhi will lift restrictions on travels and communication links in Kashmir within the next several days, India’s federal government told the Supreme Court on Friday.
According to reports, the Supreme Court was hearing an appeal by a newspaper editor seeking the restoration of telephone and internet services, which were cut off this month in Kashmir amid the government’s move to end the region’s semi-autonomy.
The restrictions are slated to be lifted in the “next few days”, Tushar Mehta, a government lawyer, said.
India’s Supreme Court said that it will take up the issue of assessing restrictions on media along with related cases, without fixing a date for the next hearing.
According to India’s national broadcaster All India Radio, Governor Satya Pal Malik has directed that arrangements should be made to facilitate the transport of government employees to work.
Recently, India’s parliament voted to amend the Indian constitution, formally ending the state’s autonomous status under Article 370 and converting the state into two separate union territories – Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
The measure was met with hostility by Pakistan, with senior officials calling on Islamabad to break off diplomatic relations with India, and the country moving to expelIndia’s envoy, partially cutting off train services, and closing Pakistani airspace to Indian flights.
Kashmir has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan since the countries gained freedom from British colonial rule in 1947. Both states govern part of the region but have claims to it in its entirety. The rivals have also fought two wars over Kashmir.
Islamabad and New Delhi have held several rounds of summit-level talks on Kashmir, but a resolution has failed to emerge each time.
Source: Sputnik
