After the Supreme Court judgment ruled that indefinite internet shutdowns in India is illegal, authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have ordered a partial restoration of connectivity.
In a notice published by the Home Department of Jammu and Kashmir, it was suggested that broadband services should be provided to select institutions such as hospitals, hotels, government offices, tour and travel companies and banks.
And in districts like Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Udhampur and Reasi, 2G connectivity for postpaid users should slowly be restored.
The department also intends to set up 400 internet kiosks for tourists.
While connectivity is slowing coming back to the region, only ‘white-listed’ websites such as e-banking services should be accessible. What this means, most of the web is still inaccessible. Social media apps are still not available, and VPN services which are popular for bypassing government-imposed bans are also not available.
Furthermore, internet service providers are expected to install firewalls to prevent access to sites other than specific "white-listed" ones.
Internet Restoration in J&K ordered by J&K Home Department. pic.twitter.com/cRG1n2Zvcl
— DIPR-J&K (@diprjk) January 14, 2020
In other words, internet is to be partially restored in Kashmir after an unprecedented five-month blackout, but only for those institutions providing “essential services”.
"There shall be complete restriction on social media applications allowing peer-to-peer communication and virtual private network applications for the time being," said the order issued by Shaleen Kabra, the Principal Secretary at the Home Department of Jammu and Kashmir.
All mobile and broadband internet connections have been suspended in Kashmir since 5 August, with an intention to maintain law and order when it scrapped Article 370 of the constitution that stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomy.
The move by India's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Narendra Modi, revoked the decades-long special status of Jammu and Kashmir, which had given the region autonomy, and split the state into two territories under the direct control of Delhi.
It was to revoke the region's autonomy that was controversial, as the "special status" Kashmir enjoyed underpinned its fraught relationship with Delhi.
The government also said the internet could be used to spread disinformation and allow militant groups to plan attacks.
According to Software Freedom Law Centre, India’s internetshutdowns.in - a website that keeps a track of internet blackouts in India - the government blocked internet access 106 times in 2019.
While many of the restrictions have since been eased, more than 7 million people in the region have been without internet for more than 150 days, which has come at a cost of more than $1 billion to the economy.
Some mobile phone and landline services were already restored back in October, but the indefinite internet suspension has crippled daily life, the media and many businesses.
The internet shutdown is the longest-running blockage in a democracy.
According to the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), the agency working on digital rights, 96.8% of the people in the region depend on mobile internet. The partial lift should give a sense of relief to many, despite still leaving many others in the region without connectivity.
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