SRINAGAR, India – India ends an 18-month ban on high-speed internet services on mobile devices in controversial Kashmir, where opposition to New Delhi has deepened after it revoked the region’s semi-autonomy.
The order upheld the ban on 4G mobile data services on Friday, but the order issued by the region’s interior secretary, Shaleen Kabra, asked police officers to ‘closely monitor the impact of the lifting of restrictions’.
A complete internet ban, the longest in a democracy, which rights activists called a “digital apartheid”, came into effect in August 2019, when India stripped Kashmir of its special status and state capture, depriving its residents of special rights on land ownership and provided employment. The region is also divided into two federal government areas.
The move was accompanied by limited security and a total blackout of communications that left hundreds of thousands unemployed, harmed the already poor healthcare system and stopped the school and university education of millions. Months later, India gradually eased some of the restrictions, including partial internet connection.
In January last year, the authorities allowed the more than 12 million inhabitants of India controlled areas to access through government-approved sites via slow high-speed connections.
Two months later, authorities revoked a ban on social media and restored full internet connection, but not high-speed internet. In August, 4G services were allowed in two of the region’s 20 districts.
Officials said the internet ban was aimed at repelling anti-India protests and attacks by rebels who had been fighting for decades for the region’s independence or unification with Pakistan, which runs another part of Kashmir. Both countries claim the enclosed territory as a whole.
Officials also argued that such security measures were necessary to better integrate the region with India, promote greater economic development and stop threats of ‘anti-national elements’.
Many Kashmiris, however, see the move as part of the beginning of colonialism of the colonists aimed at bringing about a demographic change in the only Muslim region in India.
Digital rights activists have repeatedly denounced the internet restrictions, saying they represent a new level of government control over information. They have also been criticized by lawmakers in Europe and the United States, who have called on the government to end the curbs.
Omar Abdullah, the region’s former top-elected official, who was jailed for several months in 2019, welcomed the internet recovery and tweeted: “Better late than never.”
Others were more critical.
“I actually see some people going out of their way to thank government officials for the recovery of 4G,” said Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of the Kashmir Times. tweeted. “They do not offer us charity. We have to pay compensation for our deprivation and losses.”
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India regularly launches mobile internet services in parts of the region, as a tactic during uprisings and protests.
Most of India’s internet locks have been applied in Kashmir, but are also used elsewhere by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Authorities recently cracked down on the internet at protest sites near New Delhi, where tens of thousands of farmers set up camp to expose new agricultural laws.
The move has attracted worldwide attention after pop star Rihanna tweeted a news report on Tuesday that angered government ministers and Indian celebrities.