In spite of the state government imposing a ban on social media platforms, the who’s who of Kashmir continue to be able to post on Facebook and Twitter, including the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.
Social media services such as services Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp have been blocked in Kashmir since April 26 after an upsurge in violence in the region.
Tweets sent out three days ago by the youth wing president of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) about chief minister Mehbooba Mufti meeting young entrepreneurs would have been innocuous, had the situation been normal in Jammu and Kashmir.
But the state has been under a social media ban since April 26, and Waheed-ru-Rehman Para’s 140-character post on the micro-blogging site drew an immediate caustic response from rival National Conference spokesperson Junaid Mattu.
Mattu retweeted Para’s tweet, adding: “Hasn’t the CM banned Twitter in Kashmir? Isn’t your tweet the irony of ironies”.
Para did not respond. Mattu, however, was least embarrassed when asked how he could manage to tweet in the time of the ban. He, instead, blamed the state government and its officials for circumventing the ban.
“It’s not only hypocritical but outright evil of a government to have laws and then circumvent them as per convenience. It’s tragic and goes on to show how they have lost the plot in Kashmir,” he riled.
Para’s silence and Mattu’s broadside shone the light on what has been an open secret in Kashmir: That the social media ban enforced to quell rumours and violent protests has been more of a joke with almost everyone turning to the Virtual Private Network (VPN) technique to access blocked sites.
The VPN masks a user’s location, letting them access websites banned in a particular area.
