After months long with no to partial internet access, India finally allows citizens of Jammu and Kashmir to browse the web.
Indian authorities lifted the ban on Wednesday evening, seven months after the disputed region was locked down and stripped of its partial autonomy. The order however is only valid until March 17, unless extended.
"We have already started switching the service on,” said an official at the state-run BSNL, one of the major internet service providers in the region. Another official at a private internet service provider in city of Srinagar also said that access to social media had been restored on its networks.
There are some restrictions though:
People can only use 2G connection while on mobile. Post paid SIM card holders shall enjoy internet access, but pre-paid holders should still be first verified.
And for desktop, internet connectivity shall be made available only with MAC-binding, meaning that people are forced to access the internet using a specific IP address. This ensures the restriction on the use of internet access to only registered devices through a single PC, and allowing the authorities to trace a device on the basis of its online activity.
The bond also disallows the use of VPNs, Wi-Fi, encrypted files, videos and uploading of photos. All USB ports of the computer will have to be disabled also, as per the media reports.
The business entities are also required to sign bonds with the government to comply with their terms and conditions, provide complete access to their server, content, and infrastructure as and when asked by the security agencies.
This is a step up to previous moves.
Back in January, authorities in the region started allowing people to access internet using 2G, but access was limited to only certain sites and no social media networks. In February, the police filed a case against people who used VPN.
With the government finally lifting the ban, despite the restrictions, the move should provide at least some relief to several businesses in the region.
After months they have been forced to stop their operations, with report released by Kashmir Chamber of commerce in December 2019 noting that businesses in the region lost $2.4 billion since the internet ban.
The internet shutdown in Kashmir was the longest such ban imposed by a democracy. India faced many criticism from lawmakers in the European Union and the U.S., who repeatedly called on the government to curb the restrictions.
Read: Burhan Wani Killed, Kashmir Restricted All Internet Access
