SC verdict on Net raises hope in J&K

Tribune News Service

Srinagar/ Jammu, January 10

The Supreme Court’s observations on the Internet ban in Jammu and Kashmir with a direction to the government to review it in a week’s time has raised new hopes in the Union Territory (UT) of J&K that has been denied the Net access since August 5 last year.

The hope is across the UT, as all want that their work would be revived like normal times.

Top political leaders, including former Finance Minister Altaf Bukhari now in the spotlight for his attempts to revive the political process in J&K, and National Conference’s provincial president Devender Singh Rana, who was among the first to demand the restoration of the Internet in J&K, have hailed the SC directions.

They have hailed it and hoped that the Net would be restored soon.

“It seems that the government will now restore the Internet in J&K, particularly in Jammu, at least which is the most peaceful district among all. In the absence of the mobile Internet in Jammu, we are facing a lot of difficulties in getting study material and applying for jobs,” said Saurabh Gupta, a student of Jammu University.

“Internet is no more an option for today’s youth, it is a necessity,” he added.

The ban has made the people dependent on cyber cafés, which is not only expensive, but time consuming as well. The broadband services, which are available in the Jammu region, are also have a long waiting, as only the BSNL is providing it with their “poor infrastructure”.

“With restrictions on the Internet, the government has blocked the flow of information and knowledge to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We are thankful to the Supreme Court and hope that we will soon enjoy the high-speed Internet on our mobiles and laptops,” said Shivani Sharma, a teacher at a coaching centre in Jammu.

“Now when the SC is seriously looking into the matter of Internet blockade, it seems the government may restore the services now,” said a local, Naseer Ahmad, of Srinagar.

Another youth Mudasir Aziz said the Government of India was denying fundamental right to the people of Kashmir. The court on Friday said that the right to access to Net was a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution and asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to publish and review all restrictive orders, including the Internet shutdown, in the region within a week.

The post-graduate (MD/MS) doctors of various medical colleges and PhD students of universities in Kashmir have to travel to New Delhi multiple times to prepare their thesis and return to submit these.

The ban has stifled the earning prospects of people engaged in tourism and e-commerce.

“I would receive online orders for pashmina shawls from different parts of India, but the Internet ban has almost shut my business,” said Amir Baba, who runs an online portal to sell prized Kashmiri shawls.

Timeline

• Aug 5: Internet services were blocked in J&K in the wake of abrogation of Article 370
• Aug 12: Kashmir Times Editor Anuradha Basin petitions SC against communication blackout
• Sept 30: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said “restrictions are in your mind, not in Jammu and Kashmir”
• Nov 21: Centre justified restrictions and said that due to the preventive steps taken, neither a single life was lost nor a single bullet fired
• Nov 27: SC reserved its judgment on a bunch of petitions challenging the constitutionality of the lockdown in Kashmir
• Dec 4: LG GC Murmu said Internet would be restored in a phased manner