As tensions escalate on the borders between India and Pakistan and protests continue in Valley, two youth from Kashmir have come out with a safety check application on Android phones on the pattern of Facebook feature to keep people connected and informed about their well being during the current street protests.
Yasir Zargar and Rayies Zargar, two computer science graduates, have launched KashmirTap to help people remain updated about the safety of their dear ones during the ongoing protests in Valley. Yasir is a freelance cyber security expert from south Kashmir, the epicenter of current protests while Rayies is a web developer from Srinagar and CEO of a web and software development company, Nutshell Software Solutions.
The application works on Android phones and is connected with Facebook. After a login using the Facebook account, a user can post about their safety on the social networking website. “Are you safe in the protest” is a question on the application and the user has the option to tap on “I am safe”, “I am affected” or “I am not there” options. The status is posted as a link on Facebook.
Yasir, 23, says he was waiting for Facebook to start its safety check feature for people in Kashmir after hundreds of civilians started getting injured on daily basis and death toll crossed 80. “But Facebook has a different policy when it comes to Kashmir. It instead started removing what we posted and disabling accounts. KashmirTap is an initiative for people to remain connected during uncertain times,” he told The Indian Express.
“KashmirTap will simply work like Facebook Safety Check feature. As Facebook has not turned the feature on (for people in Kashmir), we are here allowing people of Kashmir with our app to let their nears and dears know whether they or not,” reads a post on the application’s Facebook page.
Yasir, who has completed his post graduation in Information Technology, says he and his friend Rayies started working on the application earlier this month. “We just want the people to remain connected and aware about the safety of their friends and relatives during the ongoing turmoil,” he said. “It is a neutral application with no political motives”.
When asked how people can access the application when the government has suspended the mobile internet in Valley, Yasir said that the limited access through broadband WiFi is the only option available with the people right now to remain connected with each other. “SMS-based app would have been difficult and even the messaging service is blocked on prepaid phones. Facebook would have blocked it had we created it on their platform but what we have is our own platform that can be put on our own website,” he said