CHANDIGARH: The Jammu and Kashmir Students' Association, a body of Kashmiri students' outside valley has written to Prime Minister Narender Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah requesting them to restore mobile services in the Valley as Kashmiri students across the country were unable to pay their school or college fees due to lack of connectivity.
More than three weeks after the Article 370 was abrogated and statehood was stripped from Jammu and Kashmir amid clampdown, around 700 students are still struggling on a daily basis to contact their families through the helpline numbers.
Nasir Khuehami founder and spokesperson of the association said, "in the letter written to PM Modi and Amit Shah we have urged both the leaders to take steps to restore mobile services in Kashmir valley on humanitarian grounds so that students can contact their parents".
The letter states, "due to the shutdown of mobile services the Kashmiri students studying across the country are facing a lot problem related to food, stock and are running out of money. Students are unable to contact their parents and relatives in the valley and are worried. Due to the clampdown and blackout of internet, phone and banking services in the state, the students have not received a single penny from their parents".
"The students are afraid that their admissions will get cancelled. Thus we have requested that all the educational institutions across the country should be ordered to extend them admission and fees deadline for Kashmiri students,’’ he said.
Nasir added that the day to day survival of the students have also become difficult as they are running out of money and have hardly anything left to buy food and other essential necessities.
"We have also requested both PM and Home Minister to increase the security for Kashmiri students outside the Valley so that they do not face any inconvenience," he said.