TV channels off air in Srinagar

Srinagar: The sex racket in Srinagar has taken its toll. A group called al-Madina regiment has forced a black out of some entertainment and news channels in the city.

Even beauty parlours have been forced to shut down.

A woman who runs a beauty parlour and a health club in an upmarket locality of Srinagar is too scared to even show her face.

She had to shut down her business after threat calls from groups which claimed that beauty parlours encouraged devious behaviour.

"Women should look beyond the four walls and get fitter. I wanted to work and my friends told me to open a beauty parlour. What is the harm if a women spares one hour to shape herself up? She is not committing a sin. Nothing wrong if she goes to a beauty parlour," she says.

More than a dozen other beauty parlours have had to shut down in this city since the sex scandal broke. And it is not restricted to parlors alone.

Cable TV services across Srinagar were disrupted for almost two hours on Tuesday.

When they resumed, some entertainment channels and all news channels were blacked out.

Srinagar residents can no longer see AXN, Star Movies, Star World among others.

The blackout follows a threat issued by the the al-Madina regiment on Saturday.

The militant group asked cable operators to shut their operations within 10 days or face the consequences.

The outfit blames cable TV for all evils in society and had carried out grenade attacks on cable operators last year allegeing that they were airing obscene programmes.

Several cable operators were killed in the attack.

The Jammu and Kashmir government assured they would be given "full protection", to all those who have been affected by the threat issued by the group.

"We assured full protection to cable operators for their normal activities," Director General of Police Gopal Sharma said.

"It has come to the notice of the government that the militants have threatened cable operators in Srinagar and asked them not to air news channels. The government has taken serious note of this," he said.

Police officers have been directed to provide adequate protection to cable operators who feel threatened by the militants, Sharma said.

Meanwhile protest againt the sex scandal continued for the fifth day on Tuesday.

Two minister, some top bureaucrats, police and security officers have been linked to the scandal that involved 43 girls, many of them minors.

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