Kashmiris wrestle with limited internet
NEW DELHI — Six months after India’s government stripped Kashmir of its semi-autonomy and enforced a total communications blackout, it is heralding the restoration of limited, slow-speed internet as a step toward normalcy.
But for the Himalayan region’s 7 million people, the reality is far different. They are only allowed to access government-approved websites. Popular social-media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter remain blocked. And while users can access YouTube and Netflix, the internet service is too slow to stream video.
Some Kashmiris are evading censors by using virtual private networks, which are widely employed globally to access restricted websites, but Indian authorities are looking for ways to clamp down on those, too.
“Frankly, let’s call it what it is: It’s still an internet shutdown and a blanket censorship of the internet,” said Nikhil Pahwa, a New Delhi-based digital-rights activist. “Can you imagine this being done to Delhi?”
The portion of the divided Kashmir region that India controls was already one of the most militarized places in the world before the government scrapped its semi-autonomy and statehood last summer, began pouring in more troops and imposed curbs on civil rights and information, including a blackout on the internet, cellphones, landlines and cable TV.
The government said it was necessary to ban the internet to head off anti-India protests by rebels who have fought for decades for independence or unification with Pakistan, which administers the other part of Muslim-majority Kashmir. Both countries claim the Himalayan region in its entirety.
Digital experts say the internet controls are particularly severe.
“The internet clampdown in Kashmir is far worse censorship than anywhere in the world. It even surpasses China’s,” said Pranesh Prakash, an affiliated fellow at Yale Law School’s Information Society Project. “It is a step toward demolishing democracy in India.”
Since the internet ban was partially lifted on Jan. 25, some Kashmiris have shared access to banned sites through VPNs with neighbors and friends and taken to the web to denounce the government’s actions in the region.
“They made us silent for six months. Now they’ve opened a window,” said Shoaib Rassol, a student. “We’ll tell the world what India has done to us.”
Since Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi came into power in 2014, the internet has been suspended more than 365 times in India, according to the global digital-rights group Access Now.
In January, government official Shaleen Kabra said terror groups operating in the region and anti-national elements were using the internet to “propagate terrorism” and spread rumors to “cause disaffection and discontent.”
Recently, internet service was suspended in areas of New Delhi, in the eastern state of West Bengal, the northern city of Aligarh and the entire state of Assam during protests after the contentious citizenship law was passed in Parliament.
For Kashmiris, the internet shutdowns are more than an inconvenience. They have a grave human cost.
During the service blackouts, critically ill patients can’t access government health care or seek insurance reimbursements online, students can’t apply for fellowships or take competitive exams and distraught families can’t connect to relatives outside the region.
On Wednesday, four U.S. senators wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, expressing concern about the curbs on the internet in Kashmir and calling for its full restoration. President Donald Trump is to visit India later this month.