Kashmiri teen launches Facebook-like app, thwarting social media ban in Valley

They relaunched the app on May 2, 2017, weeks after the social media ban in the valley to help the people of Kahmir stay connected.

Zeyan Shafiq develops Kashmir’s own facebook. (Kashbook official site)

Kashmiri Youth, Zeyan Shafiq, 16, has attracted thousands of people through his newly developed Android app named ‘Kashbook’ for the locals of the valley as an alternative to the ban on social Media imposed by Mehbooba Mufti’s government in Jammu & Kashmir.

According to reports by TOI, Zeyan who passed his class X exam had invented Kashbook in 2013 along with his 19- year-old friend Uzair Jan. They relaunched the app on May 2, 2017, weeks after the social media ban in the valley to help the people of Kahmir stay connected.

The state government on April 26, had banned all social media in Kashmir because these sites were allegedly misused by “anti-government elements”. The ban includes Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, QQ, WeChat, Ozone, Tumblr, Google+, Baidu, Skype, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Pinterest, Telegram and Reditt.

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Zeyan Shafiq has just passed his 10th exams while he already has an app launched for Kashmir. (Facebook Zeyan Shafiq)

“The government has blocked access to all the social networks and they are blocking VPNs too. So, when they’ll block the whole access to social media then how will people from valley stay connected with each other? KashBook is the answer to social media gag,” Zeyan said was quoted as saying by Times of India.

With an aim to focus and promote Kashmiri products, the 16-year-old software enthusiast who had learned softwares like HTML tags, C++ and Java by the age of 11 wishes to work for the betterment of Kashmir and Kashmiris through this website. Within a week of launch, the website has already gained much attention by the users and interestingly, Kashbook also allow its users to communicate in Kashmiri language.

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