Internet Services in Kashmir: Woes of delays , deferments

The Supreme Court’s direction to a special committee of top bureaucrats to examine the alternatives and suggestions of the petitioners for allowing 3G/4G internet services on trial basis has been received with dejection and disappointment from people of almost all walks of life who were otherwise expecting an order for complete restoration of 4 G internet services across Kashmir. Ironically the government imposes internet restrictions across Kashmir instead of reducing such irritating restrictions to only troubled areas of a particular district and its adjoining areas. The judgment like the one delivered on a petition filed by a noted journalist Anuradha Bhasin after August 5 last year does not bring any respite to the people of Jammu & Kashmir. So the internet shutdowns won’t be subject to any accountability once again and more so in Kashmir valley for some more time. Though internet shutdown imposed after widespread violent protests against the citizenship amendment act (CAA) in Asam last year was restored by the state high court there immediately but Supreme Court cited different grounds for an entirely different judgment that was passed on a petition filed by Anuradha Bhasin against internet shutdowns in Kashmir after August 5 last year. With Supreme Court of the country leaving the final decision to the administrative wisdom of top bureaucrats guided by the policies of the government, people are not much optimistic about the immediate restoration of internet services in Jammu & Kashmir. With Supreme Court of the country refusing to pass on any order for restoration of the 4 G mobile internet services in Jammu and Kashmir , the decision of the government to switch over to online mode of payment will further delay the already delayed disbursement of salaries to government employees ahead of the mega Eid festival in Jammu & Kashmir where muslims live in majority.
The response of the special committee of top bureaucrats to the directions of the Supreme court would by all probabilities lead to some new legal course of action against the government over the accountability of internet shutdowns in Jammu & Kashmir and rest of the country.
Forget about the online mode of payment for disbursement of salaries to government employees, the government has even blocked the SMS facility to deprive the people of Kashmir of the facility of SMS alerts from banks on withdrawals and deposits. While the judgment of the apex court o the country has given the government an opportunity to cite reasons for blocking the 4 G mobiles internet services in entire Jammu & Kashmir, the government on it’s parts does not explain it’s position even over the blocking of SMS alerts from banks and tax departments for the purposes of business transactions and e filing of GST and income tax statements. The response of the special committee of top bureaucrats to the directions of the Supreme court would by all probabilities lead to some new legal course of action against the government over the accountability of internet shutdowns in Jammu & Kashmir and rest of the country.