Students, kin of security personnel worried as Valley remains cut-off

RANCHI: With mobile, landline and internet services remaining suspended in Jammu and Kashmir since Sunday midnight, Kashmiri students and family members of security personnel posted in the Valley are increasingly getting concerned of their well-being.
Mohsin Pattan, a MTech student at Central University of Jharkhand, said he is concerned about his family back home in Baramulla. He added that the blackout and the subsequent passage of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill, 2019, has affected his plans for Bakrid. "I was planning to visit my family for the festival, but I haven't been able to finalize anything as I have not been able to contact my home since Sunday. All calls to the Valley have been blocked and I have now given up on the trip," Pattan said.
Abhishek Singh, a city-based model, is also worried. "My father serves in the CRPF and has been posted in Srinagar. I spoke to him on August 1, but we could last contact him on Sunday. Every time we call him, there is either a blank dial tone or a recorded message saying the number is switched off," he said.
Singh, who is hard pressed after his landlord asked the family to vacate their current rented home, seems to be running out of patience."I cannot consult my father and I have to oversee the shifting as the eldest in the family. I have no idea when we will be able to establish contact with my father again," he added. Singh was expecting to meet his father next month, but is now unsure after the sudden turn of events.
Nishant Kumar Bharti, a student of mass communication at Amity University, has a similar story. "My father, Murari Paswan, is a Major-rank official in CRPF and the last conversation I had with him was on Sunday. With reports of violence and deaths from the Valley circulating in groups and no contact with him, I am worried. My mother lives in Munger by herself, and it has been a tough three days for her as she has been frantically trying to call him," Bharti said.