Indian authorities arrested a doctor in Kashmir occupied for appealing to the Indian government to restore telephone and internet facilities for all hospitals and medical facilities in the region. BBC reported Monday.
"This is not a protest, it is a request. Restore fixed line and internet connectivity for all hospitals and medical facilities in [occupied] Jammu and Kashmir, "read the poster that Dr. Umar wore.
Read more: Total closure of airspace for India, prohibition of land routes for Indo-Afghan trade under consideration: Chaudhry
Before his arrest, the doctor talked to him BBC and warned that the situation in occupied Kashmir could cause a humanitarian crisis.
He said: "We are [otherwise] able to provide free treatment to patients below the poverty line in public and private hospitals under the [Indian] National Health Protection Plan. But due to lack of connectivity, we have not been able to provide medical treatment to [needy patients] for the last three weeks. We are now observing that several patients have been preparing medications for their dialysis and chemotherapy treatments on their own. "
"The connection between the internet and the health system is that the health scheme is completely an internet-based scheme. [Under the scheme,] Each patient receives a card. The patient takes the card to the hospital every time he visits a doctor, "he said, adding that the card is passed and the doctor concerned with the help of the patient's data determines his treatment and provides him with free medications at government stores .
"But, without the landline and Internet connectivity, we cannot provide free medications," he added.
On August 5, the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stripped the cashmere of constitutional rights they had for seven decades through a hasty presidential order. An indefinite curfew was imposed on occupied Kashmir and elected leaders were placed under house arrest.
By repealing article 370 of the constitution, people from the rest of India will now have the right to acquire property in Kashmir and settle there permanently. Cashmere and critics of the Hindu government led by Hindu nationalists see the measure as an attempt to dilute the demography of the Muslim majority of Kashmir with Hindu settlers.
In addition, the Interior Minister of India, Amit Shah, who is also president of the BJP, introduced a bill, approved by the parliament of India, to fork the state into two union territories that will be governed directly by New Delhi.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1502001/doctor-arrested-in-occupied-kashmir-for-appealing-to-indian-govt-to-restore-telephone-internet-services
