Indian-controlled Kashmir government revokes SMS ban on mobile phones

The local government in Indian-controlled Kashmir government Tuesday revoked a four-year-old ban on Short Messaging Services (SMS) on pre-paid cell phones in the restive region.

"On the instructions of Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, the restriction on SMS to the pre-paid cell phones in the State has been revoked," a government spokesman said.

According to spokesman the decision was taken by chief minister following requests from pre-paid cell phones subscribers.

The formal orders have been issued to the state-owned and other privately run service providing cellphone companies on Tuesday. A senior official of Indian government-owned telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) R K Koul told a Srinagar-based news agency that the service would resume Wednesday morning.

The ban on service was imposed in June 2010, following a series of street protests that lasted months. More than 100 people, mostly the young were killed and hundreds wounded in the police and paramilitary firing on protesters.

The government then imposed the ban saying people were using SMS facility to spread "rumors."

However after six months the ban was revoked for post-paid subscribers.

The region has more than seven million mobile phone subscribers and the majority of them are pre-paid subscribers.

A guerrilla war is also going on between militants and the Indian army and paramilitary troops stationed in the region over the past two decades.