Internet Access Partially Restored In Jammu, Kashmir After State Blackout - Reports

Daniyal Sohail Published January 18, 2020 | 08:15 PM

Broadband internet and certain mobile internet services have been restored to parts of the Northern Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, reversing a government-imposed ban issued in August, the India Today news portal reported on Saturday

NEW DELHI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2020) Broadband internet and certain mobile internet services have been restored to parts of the Northern Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, reversing a government-imposed ban issued in August, the India Today news portal reported on Saturday.

The portal cited Rohit Kansal, who serves as the principal secretary to the administration of Jammu and Kashmir, who told reporters that mobile services had been restored to certain users, although only a limited number of websites were made accessible.

Internet service providers were asked to restore broadband services in banks and low-speed 2G mobile internet to users in all 10 districts in Jammu, and the districts of Kupwara and Bandipora in Kashmir, the portal reported.

However, a number of regions in the territory would be left without internet access, while citizens would also be banned from accessing social media.

"The mobile internet connectivity shall, however, remain suspended in the districts of Srinagar, Budgam, Ganerbal, Baramulla, Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama," Kansal said, as quoted by the Hindustan Times daily.

On January 10, the Indian Supreme Court ruled to immediately restore internet access in the Northern Indian union territory, giving local authorities a week to revise the ban. The judges stated that freedom of speech and expression rests upon the right to access the internet.

Indian authorities have restricted internet access in Jammu and Kashmir since August, after New Delhi revoked the region's autonomy and split it into two territories under direct Federal control. The government claimed that the ban was necessary to keep order in the region, in addition to imposing a curfew and deploying additional military personnel.