Kashmir’s internet shutdown is putting lives at risk during the pandemic

It’s been a year since the Indian government revoked the special status of the region. Adam Withnall reveals the impact of its isolation during a global health crisis

Students wait for their turn to get online in Srinagar (AFP/Getty)

Wednesday marks exactly one year since the Indian government revoked the special constitutional status of Kashmir, splitting the state up into multiple smaller state-controlled territories and placing key local politicians under house arrest.

The 5 August political move was accompanied by a complete shutdown of means of communication in Muslim-majority areas, and while some of this has been restored there is still no access in much of the region to faster 4G mobile data – the principle way people get on the internet.

Media coverage of the situation in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state has been stifled, and not just by the internet shutdown that initially forced local journalists to revert to old-fashioned printed one-page newsletters to reach their readers.