Irony and India may often seem interchangeable expressions but even the most stolid observer would have raised his eyebrows when the Government imposed a ban on STD and ISD booths and Internet cafes in large parts of Jammu and Kashmir. This action came in the very week when long-distance call rates were slashed, finally making the communications revolution a mass phenomenon. The ridiculous restrictions imposed in India's most troubled state can be faulted on administrative, political, technological and, ultimately, moral grounds. For a start, the Government is only seeking to confirm the allegation-frequently made by the Pakistani junta-that it treats Jammu and Kashmir as no more than an occupied war zone. No doubt the army is worried that communication centres are used to transmit information about troop movements and the like to terrorists across the Line of Control. The point is, all over India STD and ISD booths are used by millions of perfectly decent and law-abiding citizens of all classes. Delhi keeps talking about the "silent majority" in Jammu and Kashmir. Does it have no responsibility towards them? The idea to put drastic limits on STD-ISD booths could only have come from technologically illiterate minds. As readily available-though theoretically illegal-a device as a satellite phone can render the ban into a joke.

The disconnection of public communication systems raises the larger issue of the Centre's Jammu and Kashmir strategy. From September 11, Delhi has happily decided that all of India's problems emanate from Islamist jehadi groups based in Pakistan, Afghanistan and further afield. Kashmir, the one problem successive governments have solemnly sworn never to "internationalise", has now become a full-fledged foreign policy issue. It would be pertinent to ask if Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government has a domestic policy on Kashmir as well. The prime minister has often spoken of winning the proverbial "hearts and minds of ordinary Kashmiris". He has even appointed a personal envoy, the hapless K.C. Pant, who it is hoped will find someone to speak to one of these days. Locking up pay phones, on the other hand, is going to do no more than accentuate any feeling of alienation. The solution to Kashmir, in case it may have slipped some highly-strung minds, lies partly in Pakistan-but largely in India.