Internet, But No Internet In Kashmir

So while, in a sense, the internet has been restored in the Kashmir Valley, the access is of a very basic nature. The people can’t open much else other than their email.

“It is a struggle to access any website. In fact, it is rarely that a website opens,” according to Laeeq Ahmad, a student. “It is as good as no internet”.

Any website other than these white-listed sites will not open, a decision which, according to some, is raising net neutrality concerns.

“Instead of blacklisting the sites and banning the social media, leaving rest of internet free to access, the government has taken the easiest way out. It has whitelisted a few hundred sites and banned the rest of internet,” said a local journalist . “This is defeating the very purpose of internet. More so for the journalists who need access to all sites

However, people are already trying to get around the ban by using VPN (Virtual Private Network). The apps have become famous across Kashmir with everyone installing them. People share the applications in their search to get the one which is most compatible for their cellphones.  With this the app, users get the access to any website including otherwise banned Facebook, Google, YouTube, and many other restricted websites.

This has already made the government cautious about access to broadband service to common people.

In the government order which allowed access to Internet, the Principal Secretary in the home department of the government of J&K Shaleen Kabra directed the Internet Service Providers to install “necessary firewalls and carry out ‘white-listing’ of sites that would enable access to government websites, and websites dealing with essential services, e-banking, etc, excluding, however, access to all social media sites”.

The presumed government rationale behind this blockade is that the content on social sites stokes the trouble on the streets. There is an assumption of a connection between the protests on the street and the posts on social media. Internet therefore is granted a role in abetting the trouble on the ground.

Considering, spring and summer have traditionally been the seasons of discontent in Kashmir, the government is unlikely to let go off its guard and give people an unbarred access to Internet. This is creating a bizarre situation in Kashmir. The erratic access to Internet is wreaking havoc with every sector of economy dependent on internet besides proving detrimental to the education.