The government of the disputed region says the restrictions are “absolutely necessary in the interests of Indian sovereignty.”
The government of Indian-administered Kashmir has extended its ban on high-speed internet in 18 of the 20 districts in the disputed region until November 12.
In an order issued late Wednesday, the administration in the federal territory said the restrictions on high-speed internet “felt absolutely necessary in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India.”
High-speed internet in the Himalayan region had been cut off since last August, when India revoked the semi-autonomous status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, divided it into two federally governed territories, and imposed a total blackout and communications cutoff. .
The order said that the security agencies “apprehended that anti-national elements could misuse” high-speed connections “to carry out activities contrary to public order in addition to persuading young people to join the militancy.
Although some of the communication restrictions have been removed and the Internet on fixed lines has been re-established, the speed of mobile Internet in most of the region remains extremely slow.
Digital rights activists have consistently denounced Internet restrictions, with some calling them “much worse censorship than anywhere in the world.”
In August, the Jammu-Kashmir Civil Society Coalition (JKCCS), a prominent rights group in Indian-administered Kashmir, called the communications blackout a “collective punishment” against the people of Kashmir and called for the international community to question New Delhi on racial segregation “.
Several human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly urged India to restore full internet access in the disputed region, and the calls picked up steam amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The conflict in Indian-administered Kashmir has existed since the late 1940s, when India and Pakistan gained independence from British rule and began fighting over rival claims over Muslim-majority territory.
The two rivals, who claim Kashmir territory in its entirety but administer part of it, have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region.
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