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Militants force cable operators to shut shop Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar The unrelenting pressure from militants has forced several cable operators in the valley to shut shop. A few are running skeletal services, offering only news and current affairs channels. "We have decided to stop transmission in Srinagar because attacks and threats from militants are increasing by the day," said Ghulam Nabi who once ran a flourishing business. He is not the only one. In several parts of Srinagar all you can watch on television these days is Doordarshan. A cable operator had a miraculous escape when militants bombed his control room on Thursday in the heart of Srinagar. Three of his employees were injured. A few days earlier, a powerful bomb had exploded in a cable TV office at Sarai Bal resulting in serious injuries to the owner and his employees. Another cable operator is battling for life in a Srinagar hospital. He was shot at by gunmen from a close range. "We are helpless... we feel insecure. Most of us had sold everything to start this business. Now we don't know where to go," said a cable owner on the condition of anonymity. "We stopped airing objectionable channels following threats from Harkat-ul-Ansar a long time back. We were beaming only the news and current affairs channels. But now they want to stop even that," said Mushtaq Ahmad. Early this year Harkat-ul-Ansar mounted a campaign against cable TV operators and video library owners. It was only after the intervention of the All-Party Huriyat Conference that the cable operators resumed operations in February this year. However, the attacks resumed soon. Though no militant outfit has so far owned responsibility for these attacks, the police believe Harkat-ul-Mujaheedin is behind these attacks. Sources said following the recent attacks the administration had offered full security to cable operators to run their business. However, the offer was turned down by the operators. "There is panic. The recent attacks on civil secretariat and the cantonment have only added to the fear. We have no choice but to wind up our operations,'' said an operator. Tell us what you think of this report

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