{"id":2943,"date":"2016-08-10T07:14:51","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T14:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.privateinternetaccess.com\/blog\/?p=2943"},"modified":"2021-08-03T05:08:55","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T12:08:55","slug":"month-since-indian-government-shut-internet-access-jammu-kashmir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.privateinternetaccess.com\/blog\/month-since-indian-government-shut-internet-access-jammu-kashmir\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s been over a month since the Indian government shut down Internet access in Jammu and Kashmir"},"content":{"rendered":"

Starting on July 8th, the Indian government ordered ISPs and telecommunication companies to shut down Internet and mobile phone access in Jammu and Kashmir in response to the protests. The funeral of recently slain local rebel leader Burhan Muzaffar Wani prompted hundreds of thousands of Kashmir residents to gather, only to be dispersed violently. The reaction to the unrest was swift. The local Indian government raided Kashmir\u2019s newspapers and confiscated printing presses in the middle of the night to start off a 3 day ban on printed media and Internet, which was then extended to weeks, and now the internet outages are still reported in certain areas in Jammu and Kashmir after over a month<\/em>.\u00a0The Internet is shut off to prevent effective communication between the protesters, who are largely youth.<\/p>\n

India has a long history of blocking Internet in Jammu and Kashmir<\/h2>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time that the Indian government has shut down open access to the Internet in Jammu and Kashmir.\u00a0Prior to the most recent protests stemming from the death of Burhan Wani<\/a>, the Kashmir region had already experienced over a dozen internet shortages. Sometimes the government only cuts the Internet while allowing mobile calls and texts to continue; other times, both are completely shut off. According to Indian news site The Wire<\/a>, over the course of the last four years, the Indian government and Indian ISPs have grown bolder as media attention has dwindled, and have cut open access to the internet more than a dozen times. Now, Article 19 of the UN charter of human rights explicitly states that access to the Internet is a basic human right. Yesterday, The Indian Prime Minister addressed the Indian legislature about the Kashmir Unrest. He actually tweeted<\/a> at Kashmir residents saying that the youth in Kashmir should be carrying laptops instead of stones. The responses speak for themselves.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/warjunaid\/status\/763264769046433793<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/OccpKash\/status\/763190030894530560<\/p>\n

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Internet is Shutted Down in Kashmir nd You Appeals on Twitter \u2026 sounds Funny<\/p>\n

\u2014 AJ (@AmarjyotiGarg) August 9, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n