Participants from Kashmir at a conference organised by the Information and Technology(IT) ministry in New Delhi on Monday protested over the issue of continued suspension of Internet services in the Valley for over 100 days.
The incident took place after IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had finished his speech and left the venue of the meeting.
The main grouse of the participants from the Valley was that the minister had left the venue without hearing their plea and hardships due to continued clampdown on Internet services.
Agitated protesters were heard shouting that the government’s digitisation programme was a farce as the “Kashmir Valley has seen no Internet connectivity for more than three months.” “How will you provide (Digital) service without Internet connectivity?” one protester asked.
The representatives from the Valley are here to attend a function organised by the ministry under which government plans to throw open franchises of Common Service Centres (CSC) in the entire state.
“Why do you see us Kashmiris differently? We have not come to eat…if we have some problem where will we share it.
If you have called us, it is our right to speak. Is it a sin if we share our issues with minister?,” said one of the participants.