Stepping off the crammed train — dubbed the “Internet Express” by Indian Kashmiris — in the nearby town of Banihal, the passengers make a beeline for cafes where they pay up to 300 rupees (US$4.22) for an hour of broadband access. Indian-administered Kashmir has been without broadband and mobile data services since Aug. 5 last year, when India’s government revoked the special status of its only Muslim-majority state, splitting Jammu & Kashmir in two. In addition to introducing the democratic world’s longest Internet clampdown in Kashmir, Access Now said that India also accounted for two-thirds of global shutdowns in 2018. “Punishing an entire population on the basis of saying potential violence or terrorism might occur is extraordinary,” Chima said. New Delhi said that the scrapping of Jammu & Kashmir’s special status was necessary to integrate it into the rest of India and spur development.

Source: Taipei Times January 18, 2020 15:56 UTC