The lifting of restrictions on Saturday applied only to 301 “whitelisted” websites. Among them were entertainment platforms like Netflix and Amazon and some international news outlets, including The New York Times. Many Indian publications remained blocked, along with all social media. Mobile data access was also restored, though it was limited to 2G connections.
“It is very slow — and a good joke,” said Sajeel Majid, 35, a restaurant owner in Srinagar, the summer capital of Kashmir. “India wants to deceive the world by saying we have restored internet, but we can’t even access email with 2G speed.”
Though some Kashmiris said the partial restoration of internet services could bring some semblance of normalcy to the region, they pointed out that shops remained largely shut and troops were still posted everywhere. Over the last week, around half a dozen Kashmiri militants were killed in gun battles with Indian forces, who have been accused of torturing civilians and using excessive force against protesters.
In a statement, the government of Jammu and Kashmir said continued internet restrictions were necessary to prevent the “propagation of terror activities” and the “circulation of inflammatory material.” Officials said they would approve more websites in the coming days.
India has increasingly come under scrutiny, both domestically and abroad, for cutting off the internet, a tactic more commonly associated with dictatorships than democracies. The country tops the world in the number of internet shutdowns, with 134 last year, according to SFLC.in, a legal advocacy group in New Delhi that tracks such restrictions.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/26/world/asia/kashmir-internet-shutdown-india.html?emc=rss&partner=rss
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