What Do You Watch On Internet There? NITI Aayog Member Defends Internet Ban In J-K

NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat on Saturday while defending the internet ban in Kashmir made a controversial remark saying it was being used to watch adult content. This came on a day when Internet service provider where asked by authorities to provide fixed line Internet connectivity in all the 10 districts of Jammu region and two districts, Kupwara and Bandipora, in North Kashmir.

“Aur waise bhi aap internet mein wahan kya dekhte hai? Kya e-tailing ho raha hai wahan pe? Wahan gaandi filme dekhne ke alaawa kuch nahi karte aap log,” Indian Express quoted Saraswat as saying. (What do you watch on internet there? What e-tailing is happening there? Besides watching dirty films, you do nothing there.)

He went on saying that politicians in Kashmir want to re-create the protests like that of happening on the roads of Delhi use social media to fuel these protests.

Telecom services were shut in the entire Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 when the Centre abrogated special status to the erstwhile state and also bifurcated it into two Union Territories.

Broadband Internet Restored

On January 2, broadband internet connectivity was restored at 80 government hospitals, including health centres and offices linked to the health department, in the Kashmir Valley.

"Broadband high-speed internet connectivity restored at 80 government hospitals, including health centres and offices linked to the department of health, across Kashmir,” an official had said. Internet services were suspended in the Valley on the night of August 4, the day before the Centre announced abrogation of Article 370 provisions and bifurcation of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state into Union territories.

August 5 Abrogation 

The Narendra Modi government on August 5 revoked Article 370 to take away Jammu and Kashmir's special status, and bifurcated the state into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, that redrew the map and future of a region at the centre of a protracted militancy movement.