A Pakistani sports channel, two culinary channels and a music channel have been blacked out as well.
Sheikh Abdul Kabeer starts his day with Quranic teachings on cable TV. But he can no longer watch his favourite religious shows. The curtains have been drawn on 34 allegedly unauthorised cable channels in Kashmir, including those beamed from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
"We watch the Islamic channels because they have Quranic content mostly. We spend time watching such channels because we are illiterate people learning Quranic teachings. We can't understand what benefit government gets by blocking the channels," said Mr Kabeer in Srinagar.
Apart from religious and news channels, a Pakistani sports channel, two culinary channels and a music channel have been blacked out as well. The Center had asked the state government to take immediate steps to stop the unauthorised broadcast. A fortnight ago, the government had banned 22 social networking sites in Kashmir.
"Channels which are airing in an unauthorized manner have to close down," said Javed Gilani, the police chief of Kashmir.
"For the last 20 to 25 years, cable operators are running small businesses. All operators will suffer when religious channels are closed," said Gulzar Bhat, a cable operator.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has recently asked national news channels not to portray all Kashmiri youth as stone throwing protesters.
"I request the national electronic media not to show discussions on television that develop a hatred against the people of Jammu and Kashmir throughout the country," she said.