Mobile Internet Services Restored In Kargil After 145 Days Of Blackout Since Abrogation Of Article 370

Mobile internet services were restored in Kargil 145 days after restrictions were imposed in Ladakh since August 5, the day Parliament abrogated Article 370 granting special power to now bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir. The services were restored in view of complete normalcy returning to Kargil, with no untoward incident taking place over the past four months, the officials were quoted as saying by PTI. They said local religious leaders have appealed to people not to misuse the facility. Broadband services were already functional in Kargil.

The Narendra Modi government has maintained that the communication clampdown will be removed in phased manner. Earlier on December 24, the Union Home Ministry had ordered "immediate" withdrawal of over 7,000 paramilitary troops from Kashmir after a security review, officials said on Tuesday. A total of 72 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have been ordered to "revert" to their locations across the country, they said. One such company has about 100 personnel.

With ongoing protests against the Citizenship Act in the country, India has become the world’s ‘internet shutdown capital’ and there’s no debate on that. The situation mirrors last year’s track record. The trend of internet shutdowns, which was compiled by a Delhi-based net shutdown tracker last year, shows the surge in 2019 also. In fact, such is the situation that an expert lamented on the internet freedom in India by giving example of China, which is not a democracy!

According to data compiled by internetshutdowns.in, India has witnessed 91 shutdowns so far. From 2012, India has registered 363 internet shutdowns. In 2016, erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir registered the longest internet shutdown. Internet services were suspended in Jammu and Kashmir for 133 days. Web services remained suspended between July 8 and November 16 in 2016 after the encounter of Hizbul terrorist Burhan Wani. While mobile Internet services on postpaid numbers was restored on November 19, 2016. Mobile Internet services for prepaid users were resumed in January 2017, this implies they faced almost a six month Internet shutdown, the shutdown tracker website report said.