SRINAGAR, India – India ended an 18-month ban on high-speed Internet services on mobile devices in disputed Kashmir, where opposition to New Delhi deepened after it lifted the region’s semi-autonomy.
The order on Friday lifted the ban on 4G mobile data services, however, the order issued by the region’s interior secretary, Shaleen Kabra, asked police officers to “closely monitor the impact of lifting restrictions”.
The general ban on the Internet, the longest in a democracy, which human rights activists dubbed “digital apartheid”, came into force in August 2019, when India removed Kashmir from its special and state status, giving it their residents special land and employment property rights. The region was also divided into two territories governed by the federal government.
The change accompanied a repression of security and a complete blackout of communications that left hundreds of thousands unemployed, damaged the already weak health system and interrupted the school and university education of millions. Months later, India gradually eased some of the restrictions, including partial Internet connectivity.
In January last year, authorities allowed more than 12 million people in India-controlled territory to access government-approved sites over low-speed connections.
Two months later, the authorities lifted the ban on social media and restored full connectivity to the Internet, but not high-speed Internet. In August, 4G services were allowed in two of the region’s 20 districts.
Officials said the ban on the Internet was intended to prevent protests and attacks against India by rebels who fought for decades for independence in the region or for unification with Pakistan, which manages another part of Kashmir. Both countries claim the landlocked territory in its entirety.
The authorities also argued that such security measures were necessary to better integrate the region with India, promote greater economic development and prevent threats from “anti-national elements”.
Many Kashmiris, however, see the change as part of the beginning of colonist colonialism that aims to engender demographic change in India’s only Muslim-majority region.
Digital rights activists have consistently denounced restrictions on the internet and claimed that they represent a new level of government control over information. They were also criticized by lawmakers in Europe and the United States, who asked the government to end the restrictions.
Omar Abdullah, the former elected official in the region, who was imprisoned for several months in 2019, welcomed the restoration of the Internet, tweeting, “Better late than never.”
Others were more critical.
“In fact, I see some struggling to thank government officials for 4G restoration,” Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of the Kashmir Times, tweeted. “They are not offering us charity. We should ask for compensation for our hardship and losses.”
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India often purchases mobile internet services in parts of the region, as a tactic during counterinsurgency operations and protests.
Most of the Internet outages in India have been applied in Kashmir, but they have also been used elsewhere by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
More recently, authorities have cut off the internet at protest sites near New Delhi, where tens of thousands of farmers have camped out denouncing new agricultural laws.
The move drew global attention after pop star Rihanna tweeted a report on Tuesday, angering government ministers and Indian celebrities.