Late Tuesday night in Jammu and Kashmir, internet services were partially restored in five districts of the Union Territory. This follows the Supreme Court’s order of last week, which had issued directions to the Jammu and Kashmir administration that internet services blockade order in the region should be reviewed within a week.
The Principal Secretary to Jammu and Kashmir Government has issued an order to the districts of Jammu, Sambha, Kathua, Udhampur and Resai to restore 2G mobile connectivity on post-paid mobile services for accessing only the ‘white listed sites’, including banking websites. Whereas, the internet service providers(ISP) have been directed to install necessary security measures and streamline the ‘white-listing’ process to allow access to Government Websites and sites dealing with other essential services.
However, access to social media is still banned. All peer to peer communication applications(whatsapp, Telegram etc.) are completely restricted and virtual private network(VPN) applications have also been disabled. The order claims that the administration has received intelligence inputs about efforts by terrorists groups to activate their cadres and gear up for anti-national activities, using social media applications.
Internet service providers can only provide broadband facility to the institutions dealing with essential services, such as hospitals, banks, government offices, travel and tourism establishments etc.
The order also directs the administration to provide 400 additional internet kiosks for broadband facility to public at large and students.