SMS services on mobile telephones were restored in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday after a five-month ban, according to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) officials.
The services were suspended Aug 1 when the Amarnath land allotment agitation was at its peak. Authorities had banned SMSes saying agitators were spreading provocative messages and rumours to fuel communal tensions over the land dispute.
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In the Kashmir Valley, one of the first SMSes making rounds Saturday was "Khul ja SIM, SIM", congratulating mobile subscribers for the restoration of the services.
A BSNL spokesman in Jammu said that soon after the services were restored the first message the subscribers circulated was "Congratulations, SMS is back".
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