The Consumer Protection Questions Raised by Kashmir s Internet Shutdown
Most telecom operators in J&K only sell voice/talk-time services as a âfreeâ service along with data packs, leaving postpaid customers to buy 4G packs to access calling services during the ban on mobile internet.
Children play games on their mobile phones in a neighbourhood in Srinagar October 10, 2019. Photo: Reuters/Danish Ismail
Tech15/Mar/2021
On February 5, 2020, the Centre restored high-speed internet in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir after a long period of 550 days. Termed as the worldâs longest internet shutdown, the Indian government came under heavy criticism for shutting down the Internet in Jammu and Kashmir and denying internet access to millions of people. Recently, several international celebrities have spoken out against Indiaâs internet-gag policy.
Contagion And Classroom
Team KL report about the issues and how the systems are tackling them in the public and private sector
Almost a year after the Covid-19 pandemic struck, primary schools reopened from classes 1 to 5 from Monday, March 15, 2021. KL Image by Bilal Bahadur
On March 1, Arshad Ahmad, a government schoolteacher posted at a Pulwama school was passionate about resuming his duties and teaching the students. He had to enter the classroom exactly after 19 months of lock-down. Conscious of the loss that 19 months entailed for a student, Ahmad wanted to not waste any more time.
The last time he taught his students was August 3, 2019, two days before Article 370 was scrapped. This was followed by six months of security and information lock-down. Then in March 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic dictated another lockdown.
Updated Mar 04, 2021 · 02:37 pm A demonstrator displays placards and shouts slogans during a protest against the new citizenship law, in New Delhi. | Reuters
India recorded the highest number of internet shutdowns in the world in 2020, showed a report by digital rights and privacy organisation Access Now on Wednesday. Of the total 155 internet shutdowns globally, India alone accounted for 109, according to the report.
The report put India at the top of the list of 29 countries that restricted their citizens’ access to internet in 2020. This is the third consecutive year that India has topped the global chart on this matter.
The next highest was Yemen, with six shutdowns and Ethiopia with four. The same three countries had been among the worst disruptors of the internet in 2019 as well, the report said.
‘Our Mother Tongue Is Far More Than A Means Of Communication’
Asiya Hassan,
Khalid Bashir Gura
KASHMIR LIFE (KL):
How can you be described and how this idea of getting mother-tongue into the digital world initiated?
ASIYA HASSAN (AS): My name is Asiya Hassan, born in Wuyan-Pampore. I have lived in Kashmir till my fifth standard of schooling. Later we moved to Malaysia, where I completed high school and graduated in Graphic Design. Currently, I am pursuing my masters in Kuala Lumpur.
The idea of setting up the page,
Kashmiri Dictionary on social media came out of the lack of online resources about our language. Many years back, when I was teaching my nephew (born and raised outside Kashmir), I searched the internet to find some useful resources that could be helpful in making him understand the language better. But the information about our language on the internet is quite limited so I could not find any good complete sources.