Srinagar: The 82-hour blanket ban on Internet services in Jammu and Kashmir was fully lifted at 10 am on Monday.
The unprecedented move by the State government, which ironically, came ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic visit to the Silicon Valley, evoked widespread condemnation across Jammu and Kashmir and beyond.
The police authorities had initially asked the service providers to suspend the Internet and other data services in Kashmir Valley for 41 hours from 5 am on Friday to discourage people from uploading ‘objectionable’ videos and pictures on and spreading rumours through social networking sites during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.
Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range), S.J.M.Gilani, in a letter written on Thursday to various service provides including the BSNL, Airtel, Aircel, Reliance, Vodafone and Idea had asked them to snap down data services through GPRS, Broadband, 2 G and 3G in Kashmir Valley for 41 hours from 5 am on August 25.
The letter had read “In view of the apprehension of misuse of data services by anti-national elements which is likely to cause deterioration in law and order situation, you are requested to completely snap down the data services through GPRS, 2 G, 3 G and Broadband in the Kashmir Valley starting from 0500 hours on August 25 to 2200 hours on August 26.”
However, another letter sent to the service providers asked them to suspended Internet services in the State’s Jammu region as well. In yet another letter shot by the police authorities extended the blanket ban till Monday morning from the midnight of August 24.
Various political and trade and other stakeholders including students criticized the ban and accused the PDP-BJP government of pushing the people to the wall by taking such “unprecedented, naive and draconian” step. They asserted that such a move was unthinkable in this age of information technology and at a time when the Prime Minister was visiting the Silicon Valley in the US where he declared social networking sites Facebook and Twitter as being the “neighbourhoods” and announced slew of measures to improve Internet connectivity and Information Technology avenues back home.
The government came under severe criticism also because the ban was enforced during the Eid festival depriving Kashmiri expatriates from staying in touch with their relatives and friends back home through Internet. Also, many students who were appearing in different online examinations and job interviews were left in the lurch by the move.
The ban also hit the businesses severely. The traders’ community has accused the government of inflicting financial miseries on it. Particularly the tourism sector which was already faced with a crash due to fall in inflow of holidaymakers during peak summer season for varied reasons suffered “enormously” as no online travel booking and other services were available for three days.
Trucks carrying goods to the State remained stranded at Lakhanpur Toll Plaza (between Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir) for want of online bills which are mandatory for importing stocks from outside the State.
Muhammad Yaseen Khan, chairman of Kashmir Economic Alliance, condemned the ban move terming it as “part of PDP-BJP government’s agenda of destruction.” He said, “The business community in the State particularly Kashmir Valley has suffered losses worth millions of rupees due to a move which is unthinkable in this age of communication and information technology.”
Jammu-based Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCI) President, Rakesh Gupta, too came heavily on the PDP-BJP government over the ban saying the move was completely uncalled for.
Former Chief Minister and Opposition National Conference (NC) working president, Omar Abdullah, reacting to the ban move said, “The irony of listening to Prime Minister lecturing about digital India while we are totally disconnected. The PDP-BJP regime is pushing people of the state to the wall.”
Congress while criticising the move said that the State government put students, examination aspirants, tourists and trade community to great inconvenience. Separatists too censured the authorities saying the ban move reflects their mindset.
However, the police defended the decision, reiterating that the blanket ban on Internet services had been necessitated “in view of the apprehension of misuse of data services by anti-national elements which was likely to cause deterioration in law and order situation.”
The police authorities pointed out that earlier this month many people had taken to various social networking sites particularly Facebook and Twitter to protest against the Jammu and Kashmir High Court order asking the police to strictly enforce a 120-year-old ban on the slaughter of bovine animals and the sale of beef in the State. Some of the users uploaded videos and photographs of cows and other bovine animals being publicly slaughtered at places in predominantly Muslim Kashmir Valley during a separatist called shutdown against the court order and such pastime hurt religious sentiments of Hindus and, in fact, added to already existing tensions over the issue within and outside the State.
They also said that various Kashmir-centric political parties and religious groups including separatists and an amalgam of clerics had asked people to violate the relevant provisions of the State’s own Ranbir Penal Code which declare slaughter of cow and other bovine animals and the sale of beef as punishable offence and the court order by sacrificing only bovine animals during Eid.
“After assessing the situation, we decided to extend the mobile internet ban till 10 am on Monday. The aim was to ensure peace during the Eid festival,” said IGP Mr. Gilani. He added that had there not been blanket ban on Internet services, anti-social and anti-national elements and other vested interests could create a situation which might have led to communal clashes.
