NEW YORK, Dec 21 (APP): Two publications that are read worldwide — The Washington Post and The Diplomat — Saturday denounced India’s frequent resort to shuts downs of internet services on various pretexts, especially the communications blockade in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir since August 5 that has compounded the difficulties of an already distressed people.
“India has earned itself a dubious distinction: It has imposed the longest-ever Internet shutdown by a democracy,” The Washington Post said in an editorial: India marks a new low for a democracy.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government abruptly revoked the autonomy of Kashmir this summer, and access to the digital realm disappeared along with the area’s statehood, the Post wrote.
“Authorities claimed the blackout, coupled with the rest of the repressive measures put into place in Kashmir, was necessary to usher in an era of prosperity in a society rent by sectarian conflict — and that it would be temporary, until the national security and safety dangers posed by mass communication have passed.
“Four-and-a-half months later, 7 million people remain cut off from the Web and, by extension, the world.”
Kashmiris in Srinagar, the Post reports, crowd into a train that takes them 70 miles away to wait in hours-long lines of people suddenly stranded in the analog area to send emails, register for exams, consult colleagues on medical cases or save businesses that are dying with no way to reach their customers.
“The disruption has lasted so long that many accounts have disappeared from WhatsApp for inactivity,” the editorial said.
“India’s shutdowns across its territory are already the most frequent of any country in the world, with excuses ranging from quashing dangerous viral rumours to preventing cheating on exams. The measures more often appear as a tool to quiet political protest than an unbiased attempt to protect people; there is evidence in any case that yanking away the Internet during violence only begets more violence.
“But the Kashmir blackout is noteworthy for its duration, its scale and its obvious place in a toolbox of repression India has used to crack down on the civil liberties and basic dignity of its Muslim population.
“The government has ordered at least three more statewide shutdowns recently in response to protests over the country’s new citizenship law that promises to further marginalize the minority.
“India may have earned the distinction of longest shutdown by a democracy, but the better question is how long a country that follows this sinister path can truly be called a democracy at all.”
Writing under the caption:Democracy in Digital Darkness: Internet Shutdowns, New Indian Normal?, The Washington-based Diplomat wrote:
“India has the highest number of internet shutdowns in the world – 102 and counting. These are just the documented incidents. Some estimate that the actual number could be even greater. Access Now, a global nonprofit advocating for a free and open internet, states that ‘an internet shutdown happens when someone – usually government – intentionally disrupts the Internet or mobile apps to control what people say or do.’
“Critics have argued that internet shutdowns in India are in direct violation to the right to freedom of speech and expression granted under Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution. The United Nations has condemned internet shutdowns as a human rights violation, stating that it violates article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees everyone a right to freedom of expression. A 2016 resolution by the UNHRC clearly states that ‘the same human rights that people have offline must be protected online.’Initially localized to certain states like Jammu and Kashmir, the practice of internet blackouts by the Indian government has become increasingly common across the nation.
“On December 19, 2019, as the student movement against the new Citizenship Amendment Act grew, the government shut down the internet in parts of New Delhi, India’s national capital. The deputy commissioner of the Delhi Police signed a notice stating that the ‘prevailing law and order situation’was the reason to shut off voice, SMS, and internet services in the area.
“The student-led protests across the country are in opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The CAA, passed by the Indian government on December 12, 2019, allows non-Muslim persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to obtain Indian citizenship. Critics, like the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, have called it ‘fundamentally discriminatory’ as it excludes Muslims.
“Muslims are India’s largest religious minority, making up 14 percent of its population. Some fear that the CAA could possibly marginalize India’s 1.9 million Muslims in Assam and more around the country if combined with the controversial National Register for Citizens (NRC) proposed in August 2019. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has denied discrimination based on religion.
“Nevertheless, when questioned in the Lok Sabha, Amit Shah, India’s home minister and one of the chief architects of the bill, replied that ‘there is a fundamental difference between a refugee and an infiltrator. This Bill is for refugees.’ Shah was othering the Muslim immigrants as ‘infiltrators.’
“Moreover, the police’s brutal clampdown on student protesters of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University last Sunday pushed students across the country and globally to speak up against the current regime.
“As of now internet remains off for many parts of the Kashmir Valley since India abrogated Article 370 of the Indian Constitution on August 4, 2019.
More recently, just in the last week, the internet was shut off for the northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura (affecting some 36 million people), amid their protests against the CAA. Some other areas where internet has been shut off in response to the CAA protests include large swaths of West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh (which holds 200 million people), Mangaluru, Lucknow, Bareilly, Ghaziabad, and Dakshina Kannada.
“In the last year, 68 percent of the world’s total internet shutdowns were reported in India… Almost half a billion people are online in India and around 97 percent of India’s internet users use their mobile phones to access the internet. Many of the internet shutdowns are mobile internet shutdowns. These not just worsen the situation on the ground but also impact various areas of life from business to access to healthcare and education…
“The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi initially came into power with ‘Digital India’ as one of his flagship programs. It aimed to transform India into a ‘digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.’ However, as internet shutdowns spread across the country, millions of Indian citizens languish in government imposed digital darkness.”
