Date:14/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/14/stories/2006051403690900.htm

National

Militants divided over cable TV ban

Shujaat Bukhari

— Photo: Nissar Ahmad

CAUGHT IN A BATTLE: Kashmir cable operators shout slogans to lift the ban on cable TV transmission during a rally in Srinagar on Saturday. — Photo: Nissar Ahmad

SRINAGAR: The row over the sex scandal has taken a new twist. Now, a section of militant outfits is seeking a ban on the broadcast of cable TV channels in Kashmir, saying these programmes are obscene and cause waywardness.

For the first time, the militant organisations seem divided over an issue, with the Hizb-ul Mujahideen and the Harkat-ul Mujahideen on Saturday asking the cable operators to resume operation or face dire consequences.

Earlier, though the service was resumed on Thursday, it did not last long, with four militant outfits — the Al-Badr Mujahideen, the Al-Medina Regiment, the Jaish-e-Muhammad and the Harkat-ul Mujahideen — reissuing the threat.

The Lashkar-e-Taiba had joined the fray as well.

The services were resumed after the Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM) chief Asiya Andrabi and the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference asked the militants to spare news-related TV channels. However, the militant outfits asked them to not to interfere in the matter.

"We have decided to continue the ban on cable networks as it is via their operations that our youth go astray," a statement from these outfits said.However, the Hizb-ul Mujahideen came out with a fresh statement on Saturday, asking the cable authorities to resume operations forthwith. Referring to the threats to DeM chief Asiya Andrabi, Hizb spokesman Junaidul Islam, in a statement, said: "Such threats won't be tolerated."