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J&K: WhatsApp groups to be registered with police in Kathua to avoid rumour-mongering

Srinagar: In a constant effort to maintain peace and security in the state, authorities in Jammu & Kashmir’s Kathua said they have asked the administrators of social media groups to register with concerned Station House Officer (SHO). The authorities aim to keep a vigil and avoid rumour-mongering with the move. 

Kathua District Magistrate Dr Raghav Langer ordered the move to take effect immediately in order to keep rumour mill from buzzing. 

“Each WhatsApp group admin shall immediately enable message uploading status to ‘only admins can send messages’ from today for two months till October 21,” the District Magistrate order as quoted by the news agency ANI says. 

The state has been on the edge after the government’s moves to scrap Jammu & Kashmir’s special status and bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories (UTs). Section 144 was imposed in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh on August 4 and all major Kashmiri politicians including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were put under house arrest to prevent backlash and protests. 

The authorities have maintained that there have been only isolated ‘minor’ incidents of violence in the valley and the situation is largely peaceful barring a few incidents. However, a BBC report on August 10 claimed thousands of protesters in Srinagar took to streets and the security forces opened fire and used tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. Another report by Reuters claimed that as many as 10,000 protesters participated in the agitation. 

The government, however, denied the reports stating there only minor clashes in certain areas were witnessed. 

Around 300 people protested in Srinagar’s Soura area after Friday prayers. The authorities said the protests were brought under control after a “mild lathi-charge”. After easing of restrictions in Srinagar, some of which were reinstated on Friday after posters issued by separatists emerged urging citizens to march to the local United Nations military observer group (UNMOGIP) office. 

The Joint Leadership Resistance (JLR) of the separatists asked people to march up to UNMOGIP and raise the issue of abrogation of Kashmir’s special status by scrapping Article 370 of the Constitution. The separatists allege that the Centre’s move is aimed at changing the demography of the Jammu & Kashmir. 

Barricades and concertina wires were set up to prevent people from marching onto Lal Chowk and Sonawar where the UN office is located, the officials told the news agency PTI. 

The government scrapped Article 370 and passed bifurcated the state into two Union Territories (UTs) Jammu & Kashmir with a proposed Legislative Assembly on the lines of Delhi and Puducherry and Ladakh without Legislature. 

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