Centre for Internet and Society

It Hurts Them Too

Mir Farhat — 2017-12-19T15:12:31Z

Strap: Internet shutdown robs security forces' social media lifeline in J&K.

Srinagar, J&K: For Mahender*, a member of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) posted in Srinagar for the last two years, the internet has been a way to feel virtually close to his children and wife in Bihar, nearly 1,900 kms away. After duty every day, he finds a quiet corner to start video-calling his wife. At the other end, she ensures their two children are beside her. “We discuss how our day went. Most of our conversations revolve around the kids, their schooling and food, and about my parents who live near our house,” says Mahender, who identified himself only with his first name.

However, Mahender and thousands of security personnel like him posted in the Kashmir Valley haven't found this easy connectivity always reliable, courtesy the government's frequent internet shutdowns, phone data connectivity cuts, and social media bans.

Jammu & Kashmir has faced 55 internet shutdowns between 2012 and 2017, as recorded by the Software Freedom Law Centre. The administration justifies this crackdown by citing "law-and-order situations" that occur during encounters of security forces with militants and, later, when protests and marches are carried out by civilians during militants' funerals.

Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed by security forces and police on 8 July 2016, triggering a six-month-long “uprising” among civilians in Kashmir. Immediately after the shootout, security agencies shut the internet down. With 55 internet shutdowns in 2017 itself, it is something of a standard practice in Kashmir today to block social media or internet in a district or entire Valley each time there is an encounter. It is also a recurring practice of precaution against protests on Independence and Republic Day every year.

Security forces and police are not untouched by these shutdowns though. There are 47 CRPF battalions posted in the Kashmir region. “Our jawans experience difficulties during internet bans as they are not able to communicate with their families and friends as frequently as they do when internet is working,” says Srinagar-based CRPF Public Relations Officer Rajesh Yadav.

The J&K police, who are at the forefront of quelling protests and maintaining law & order in the Valley with a strength of nearly 100,000, also suffer. There have been growing instances of clashes between the Kashmiri police and protesters who believe their home force is being brutal during crowd control. The policemen have had to hide or operate in plain clothes. A senior police officer in Srinagar, who does not want to be named, says, “Our families are worried about our well-being when we are dealing with frequent agitations. In such a situation, when there is a ban, we find it difficult to stay in touch with our families.”

More dangerously, internet bans also hit the official communication of cops in action. Their offices are equipped with BSNL landline connections, which are rarely shut down, and they usually communicate through wireless; but for mobile internet most of them depend on private internet service providers, owing to their better connectivity, as the rest of the state. A senior police officer who deals with counter-insurgency in Kashmir speaks of the impact of cutting off phone data connectivity. "We have our own WhatsApp groups for quick official communication. We use broadband in offices only and can’t take it to sites of counter-insurgency operations.”

Yadav of the CRPF says, “While we have several effective means of communication for official purposes, social media is one that has accentuated our communication network. During internet bans, our work is not entirely hampered, but there is a little bit of pinch, since that speed and ease of working is not there.” Nevertheless, he defends the ban, insisting that Facebook and WhatsApp are handy tools for people to "flare up" the situation and "mobilise youths" during protests. "So, it becomes a compulsion for the administration to impose the ban."

Counter-insurgency forces have in the last few years created social media monitoring and surveillance cells. They say it is to equally match the extremists, including those in Pakistan, who use social media services like Telegram, Facebook and WhatsApp now, instead of their phones which can be tapped. It is also to keep an eye on suspected rumour-mongers and propagandists. For instance, 22-year-old Burhan Wani had gained the attention of security forces precisely because of the way he used his huge following, amassed through Facebook posts and gun-toting pictures, to inspire young Kashmiris to militancy.

“There is always monitoring and surveillance. If militants are using it, then they are within the loop,” says Yadav.

There is widespread public outrage against the state government and agencies who impose frequent net bans in Kashmir, but the CRPF official says it hampers their attempts to build an image and do public relations in Kashmir too. “We promote and highlight programmes like Civic Action and Sadhbhavana online, and that's not possible when there's no social media.”

"The public's criticism of the ban is justified,” the counter-insurgency official says. But they are compelled to use it in situations like during the recent scare around braid chopping, which was caused due to “rumour-mongering by persons with vested interests”. Kashmiri civil society had suggested that the police keep the internet up to issue online clarifications trashing the rumours, but it was not to be.

"The internet has made it possible to identify culprits while sitting in an office. But we have to shut it down in case of communal tensions which have the tendency to engulf the whole state,” says the senior cop. “When we have no option left, we go back to traditional human intelligence.”

Name changed to protect identity.

Mir Farhat is a journalist from Jammu & Kashmir, with an experience of reporting politics, conflict, environment, development and governance issues. His primary interests lie in reporting environment and development. He is a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.

Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/it-hurts-them-too

Digital Banking Dreams: Interrupted

Safeena Wani — 2017-12-19T15:24:07Z

Strap: Internet shutdowns drag banks in J&K far behind.

Srinagar, J&K: Inside a buzzing branch of the Jammu & Kashmir Bank in Srinagar, 27-year-old Falak Akhtar is busy processing routine transactions. A member of the technical team, this young banker says that almost half of the branch's customers have registered their accounts with the M-Pay mobile app. However, the application built for convenience is not always dependable. As she attends to the rush of customers inside the branch, Falak reminds us that whenever there is an internet shutdown, the app is of no use. “The customers have to resort to traditional banking.” she says.

Every day, Falak’s branch executes 53% of its transactions online. “If the customers do online transactions, the cost per transaction for the bank is only Rs 7. But every time an internet ban is enforced in Kashmir, the cost of each transaction goes up to Rs 54,” she says.

Given that internet shutdowns in Kashmir are usually accompanied by an imposition of a physical curfew, simply going to the bank can be impossible. Ironically, it is during political tensions that Kashmiris, stuck indoors due to curfew or avoiding the streets to keep safe, need internet banking the most.

Zahid Maqbool, an information officer with the J&K government, uses the J&K Bank’s mobile app regularly to transfer money or do transactions. “But last year, when my brother studying outside the state needed money, I couldn’t use the app because of the internet ban,” he says. “During the tense situation and curfew, I took a huge risk to reach to the branch in Tral, where only two employees were present." It took him around three hours to transfer Rs 12,000 ($185) to his brother’s account "because the bank’s internet line was also running very slow”.

Showkat (name changed), manager of an ICICI Bank branch in Srinagar, says they use internet facilities of BSNL and Airtel during normal days. “Our branch has 20,000 customers, and around 40% of them use digital banking through an app called I-Mobile,” he says. Last year, as Kashmir plunged into a six-month-long political unrest after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, internet was snapped immediately and remained suspended for several months. The bank was not able to do online transactions throughout the summer. “And whenever there was a relaxation in curfew or strike, there used to be a huge rush of customers in the branch,” Showkat says.

“Whenever an internet ban is on in Kashmir, we suffer huge losses because we don’t manage to get new account holders,” says Showkat. “Since we run most of our operations online, the ban blocks the account holder from accessing the net and uploading scanned ID proofs.”

On an average, his branch opens 100 accounts per month. “But last year, amid the internet ban, we managed to open only 40 accounts in six months,” he says. For processing these account opening applications, the bank had to courier the forms to Chandigarh, the bank's nerve centre in North India. Account openings take 24 hours online, but here, the forms took six days to reach Chandigarh, after which it took another 8 days to process it.

To overcome hurdles faced during last year’s internet gag, the bank used the Indian Army’s VSAT network on lease. Showkat says such a line can be used for commercial purposes after clearance from the Army and a payment of Rs 15,000 per month. "Our ATMs were connected through that lease line," he says. "But the problem was that the gag had slowed down the VSAT as well.”

The slow-speed internet hampered cash withdrawals from ATMs, which created quite a furore. “The already frustrated customers started shouting that the bank employees were cheats, that we were irresponsible. It is very difficult to make them understand the technical aspects of it,” he says.

Although banks suffer during frequent internet gags, their plight is often overshadowed by the bigger political crisis in Kashmir. What's clear is that disrupted banking, fee payments, purchases and withdrawals, all severely cripple the everyday life of Kashmiris.

In 2016, angry customers, barred from e-banking due to internet clampdown, thronged banks after months, demanding they be given some respite on EMIs (monthly loan repayments) and other banking schemes. An official from the branch of a nationalised bank outside Srinagar says that when they refused to entertain such requests on procedural grounds, the customers entered into heated exchanges.

Showkat says that customers who had taken loans were neither able to repay the installments online, nor were they able to visit the branch because of unrest. “These customers then end up having to bear the high interest rate, and some of them had to face penalties.”

Mudasir Ahmad, the owner of a Kashmir Art Emporium in Central Kashmir’s Budgam, says that he had borrowed a loan of Rs 40 lakh ($62,400) from J&K Bank as capital for his handicraft business, but he had missed seven loan instalments last summer due to the internet clampdown. “I usually pay my loan installments through e-banking. Last year, when the internet was not working, I had to visit the bank to repay it. There are such long queues. It took me a whole day last year to pay one installment, which I otherwise pay within minutes through e-banking.”

Digital banking was introduced in Kashmir few years ago in an effort to reduce footfall in banks and increase online transactions. Online banking done through cards and apps was hailed as a step towards cashless economy. Abdul Rashid, a relationship executive of a State Bank of India branch in Srinagar, says, “But because of the internet gag at most times, we are not able to be a part of it."

Safeena Wani is an independent journalist from Kashmir. Her work has appeared in Al-Jazeera, Kashmir Reader and other regional publications. She is a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.

Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/digital-banking-dreams-interrupted

Online or Offline, Protest Goes On

Junaid Nabi Bazaz — 2017-12-21T14:53:51Z

Strap: Kashmiris say internet blockades have no effect on uprisings

Srinagar, J&K: Ahead of the Srinagar parliamentary by-polls held on 9 April 2017, the Jammu & Kashmir state government suspended mobile data services to prevent protests around the election. The constituency went to polls with strict restrictions on movement, and with no access to mobile internet. As soon as the electoral staff reached their respective polling booths, however, there were protests. People at dozens of locations in central Kashmir’s Budgam district began to gather to demonstrate against the central and state governments, which they believed had not safeguarded Kashmiri interests.

Faizan, a 12-year-old schoolboy, was killed in the Dalwan shooting	Abbas, 21, was one of the victims of the shooting in Dalwan
Abbas’ home in Dalwan	The school in Dalwan where the shooting occurred

Picture Courtesy: Junaid Nabi Bazaz

In Dalwan village, a picture-postcard village atop a hill 35 kms from Budgam town, no votes were cast: the officers fled the polling station, and the paramilitary forces and police shot at protesters. Two people – a 21-year-old son of a policeman and a 12-year-old schoolboy – died on the spot.

People of Dalwan have been voting in droves in every parliamentary, legislative and local body election, even on occasions where much of Kashmir boycotted polls. But in April, residents said they were fed up with legislators not working to ensure uninterrupted power, water supply, concrete roads, or even a permanent doctor at its only dispensary. So, a village that has never demonstrated or produced any militants in the last 30 years of uprisings in the Kashmir Valley erupted in protest that election day. Now, the cemetery in which the two killed civilians are buried has been renamed as Martyr’s Graveyard.

Bazil Ahmad, a resident of Dalwan, says that nothing could have prevented the protests that day. “We protested against state, it was a spontaneous response,” says 22-year-old Ahmad who threw his first stones that day. “If the government believes that an internet blockade could prevent protests, they’re living in a fool’s paradise.” He sees the internet only as a free platform to express his anger and disappointment. “The actual trigger for the anger comes from the denial of rights and state aggression, not because of the internet,” says Ahmad.

As the news about the killings spread to neighbouring villages word-of-mouth, residents there too protested. Journalists in these villages updated their newsrooms. In a few days, all newspapers in Kashmir carried the news of eight deaths, scores of injuries, and the appalling 6.5% voter turnout in Budgam and Ganderbal districts.

After the ban was lifted, videos captured on polling day were posted on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. One of them was a video of Farooq Dar, a voter returning from the polling booth, tied to the front bumper of a military vehicle as it patrolled villages. A paper with his name was tied to his chest, and a soldier announced on the loudspeaker, “Look at the fate of the stonepelter.” The video created an uproar internationally. The armed forces were accused of using a civilian as “a human shield”, pushing it to hold an inquiry, and the police to lodge an FIR.

After these videos emerged, the government on April 26 officially banned 22 social media sites and apps, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, for over a month. Once again, it seemed to have little effect on the protests – and protestors.

Sajad, who has been throwing stones for the past eight years at the armed forces, says, “The government is miscalculating the use of internet and the occurrence of protests.” The 28-year-old refers to the protests using the Kashmiri phrase kani jung, loosely translated as ‘stone battle’, which to him conveys a revolutionary zeal. Youths like Sajad who participate in the protests insist that they are provoked each time by an instance of human rights violation that exacerbates the long experience of militarisation, aspiration for “azadi”, and conflict in Kashmir. Internet shutdowns do nothing to erase this trigger, he says, and sometimes heighten their anger.

In just 2017, there have been 27 internet or social media bans in J&K, according to internetshutdowns.in. In the absence of evidence or study about its effects, it’s unclear if these blockades curb the spread of misinformation at all, or prevent the mobilisation of people for protests. For instance, on 15 April 2017, students from Degree College in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district protested against the armed forces for firing teargas and beating them. Though there was an internet ban in place, the incident went live on Facebook. It led to more student protests across the state. Schools, colleges and universities had to be closed for weeks.

Due to the frequency of blockades, several Kashmiris, including ministers, bureaucrats, civilians, protesters and police officers, have found a way out: they have turned to VPNs (Virtual Private Networks).

A VPN allows users to remain secure online and also enables them to access content or websites that are otherwise blocked. Sajad says, "A selective ban on the internet does not help, because we use VPNs. A person gains access to a network, and everyone in the area finds out how. Let the government block everything, it won’t stop protests.” To illustrate his point, Sajad gives the example of uprisings in the summer of 2016, during which internet, pre-paid and post-paid connections were shut for months. “Were there not protests?” he asks. “Kashmir was resisting Indian forces even before the internet existed, so why would it be difficult for us to use the same means now?”

Gulzar, a 30-year-old who has joined protests since he was 15, says the internet is more often used to disseminate information about the injustice, and not to organise protests. “A guy from Srinagar will only protest in Srinagar, and not go to other places. So, it is not too difficult to find out where protests are going on,” says Gulzar.

A DSP-rank police officer in the cyber crime cell of the J&K Police, on the condition of anonymity, says that bans have not yielded absolute results, but have been useful in preventing small-scale protests. He cited the example of district-level territorial internet blockades, done during gunfights between militants and the armed forces, to prevent immediate information sharing that may lead to the operation being compromised. “Say some militants are caught during an encounter in a village in Pulwama district. We block the internet as a precautionary measure in that area,” he says. “In case the district is violence-free, we reduce the bandwidth. That has now become the standard operating procedure.”

The police officer adds that accustomed to the bans, people now record the protests and later post videos on social media once the ban is lifted. “So, in effect, what the internet ban achieved is neutralised as soon as the internet is back on,” he says.

Names changed to protect identity.

Junaid Nabi Bazaz is a Srinagar-based journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters. He has been working as a journalist in Kashmir since 2010. He has covered human rights, economy, administration, crime and health over these years. He has also written for contributoria.com, an independent division of The Guardian.

Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/online-or-offline-protest-goes-on

Business Woes from Saharanpur's Internet Ban

Mahesh Kumar Shiva — 2017-12-29T13:24:35Z

Strap: Three businessmen reveal the price they paid

Saharanpur: The violence between groups of Thakurs and Dalits that engulfed Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh between April and June 2017 continues to haunt its residents. The UP administration had ordered an internet shutdown for 10 days, reportedly to prevent the spread of rumours that had erupted after another caste clash on May 23 in Shabbirpur.

Those running businesses in Saharanpur say they were affected in unexpected ways. They struggled to make regular transactions and incurred losses they haven't yet recovered from.

Forty-eight-year-old Rajkumar Jatav has been manufacturing ladies' shoes for 25 years in Saharanpur town. Helped by his sons Sushant and Rajkkumar, he runs a small-scale factory which employs 15 workers who make flat slippers, sandals, heeled shoes and joothis for the local market. Jatav says he suffered a loss of about Rs 1.25 lakh ($2000) during the 10-day internet shutdown.

"I did not get raw materials like paste solutions, synthetic leather, heels and sequins from my suppliers based in Kanpur and Agra when I failed to pay them the 50% advance through online transfer," says Jatav. "The situation outside the town was also tense. So there was no chance I could go or send someone to the banks either."

Jatav had started using the digital payment system only after demonetisation. "I started doing online payments after November 8, 2016, after I faced a lot of problems with cash availability during that time. Internet payments came as a boon for me and also for my suppliers," he says. But within six months of getting used to online transactions, Jatav faced this new hurdle: an internet shutdown. "To complete the shoe order, we have to invest from our pocket first, but when I couldn't, my suppliers refused to send me the material, which meant I could not complete a big order," he says. He calculates that the cancelled order cost him Rs 2 lakhs. In addition, a few of Jatav's reliable and talented shoe workers quit because he was unable to pay their wages on time.

Jatav's annual business turnover is around Rs 24 lakh (Rs 200,000 a month), and he gets his raw material from the markets of New Delhi, Bareilly and Agra. "I even tried to give my suppliers an account payee cheque but they declined it saying that it will take a lot of time to clear. I requested them again and again but to no use. For a supplier there are thousands of Rajkumar Jatavs. I am no special client to get the raw materials on credit," he says. Jatav admits that he is not prepared for another shutdown, and he would not be able to run his business if it happened again.

Many traders in Saharanpur city say narrate similar experiences. In May, a family business of trading edible oil wholesale saw its most unfamiliar financial challenge yet. It had been only three years since Shailendra Bhushan Gupta had taken over his elder brother's 26-year-old store. Gupta started to expand and diversify too, by launching an agency to trade the Fortune brand of oils. He employs five people, and his monthly turnover ranges between Rs 30-40 lakhs ($46,600-62,200). The 40-year-old also modernised some of the business practices, shifting much of the payments to suppliers online, for speed and ease of use.

During the internet shutdown in Saharanpur, Gupta did not expect to be affected, given the stability of his store and the large sale volume of his agency. But unexpectedly, his supplying company cancelled his order of 1000 litres of oil when he could not make the payment. "As per the agreement, I have to deposit at least 50% of the order amount in advance, and the rest of the payment is made when the oil is delivered to us. But during those 10 days, I could not make payment through any means, and my order was declined by the supplying company," he says. Gupta also tried to make the payment through RTGS but couldn't do that. The oil trader says that he ended up suffering a jolt of Rs 18 lakhs ($28,000).

Gupta is slowly trying to make up for the monetary loss and credit worthiness with his suppliers. "How can an internet shutdown be a solution for anything?" he asks. "I seriously don't know what to do if it happens again."

A property dealer in same central market faced a direct hit during the internet ban. Ashok Pundeer, who has been selling and renting commercial and residential properties for the past five years, estimates that he suffered a loss of Rs 22 lakhs ($34,200) during the internet shutdown as he could not get many properties registered in that period. "I had to return the token money to many buyers because there was no internet," he says. "All of us know that registry (property) and documentation is now done online in Uttar Pradesh. The clients were new and they refused to take the deal forward."

A property dealer is not easily trusted, admits Pundeer. This means he is paid only after the deal is done, and a lot of word-of-mouth business depends on his image and credibility. Every lost client is a potential loss of more. "It's not just me, but many dealers have incurred huge losses due to shutdown," says Pundeer. "Koi ration ki dukaan to hai nahi property dealing. Jo kuch hona hai online hi hona hai. Ab kya batayein, dekha jayega jo hona hoga," he throws his hand up in frustration, saying the real estate business is no grocery shop, and if there's no access to online transactions, then very little can be done.

Trying to keep an optimistic outlook, Pundeer says, "Jitna kuan khodo, utna paani milega". For his business to recover, he will have to double down with more focus and effort.

(With inputs from Saurabh Sharma)

Mahesh Kumar Shiva is a Saharanpur-based journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters. has been reporting for 23 years on crime, healthcare, society, politics, culture, sports, agriculture and tourism in his city. He has previously worked with publications like Dainik Janwani, Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujala, Ajit Samachar and more.

Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.

Video

Rajkumar Jatav talks about the challenges his shoe manufacturing business faced during the shutdown. Video Courtesy: Mahesh Kumar Shiva

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/business-woes-from-saharanpurs-internet-ban

Internet and the Police: Tool to Some, Trash to Others

Manoj Kumar — 2017-12-19T15:52:26Z

Strap: Disconnection with colleagues discomforts one part of the administration, but the other quips, what’s the big deal?

Panchkula, Haryana: Suspension of internet facilities to “prevent mishaps” has been a frequent exercise in Haryana during various agitations, but probing its effect on those responsible to maintain the law & order in the state shows a gap in acceptance of the information tool. There are some who understand its importance in bridging human interaction, and then, there are others who consider it nothing but an easy way to watch porn.

The tricity of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali witnessed chaos and violence when Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted in two rape cases on August 25. Mobile internet services were shut down across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh for 72 hours as over one lakh followers of the much-revered “godman” started pouring into Panchkula, camping around the district court complex where the special CBI court was hearing the case. The ban was later extended for another 48 hours to last till August 29.

Reports claimed that 38 people died in the interim violence between August 25 and 29. The internet shutdown, evidently, didn’t serve the purpose. But it did affect the efficiency of the mechanism put in place to control the law and order situation.

Shutdowns obstruct us too: Cops

Panchkula police commissioner Arshinder Singh Chawla said they faced challenges in ascertaining size of the crowd gathering at various locations after the mobile internet communication was temporarily killed. “We were until then sharing information and photos on WhatsApp to figure out the number of people pouring in the city from various points as it helped identify problem areas. DSS followers had started gathering August 22 onwards,” said Chawla, who was heading the operations when DSS followers went on a rampage in Panchkula.

Unavailability of internet had hindered police operations during the Jat agitation in 2016 as well. Jagdish Sharma, a retired DSP who was part of the team countering agitators at the Munak canal when they targeted the chief source of Delhi’s water supply, said his team faced challenges in gathering strength due to the absence of mobile communication. “The protesters had a much larger count than our personnel at the canal, but they weren’t aware of this. We were fearful that our wireless messages asking for reinforcements may be tapped into by them. We could have easily conveyed the message if WhatsApp was working then,” said Sharma. The cops retained control over Munak canal by remaining at their position for two days, until the reinforcements arrived, while posing as if they were prepared to take on the Jat agitators, Sharma added.

The Panchkula police commissioner said that the drone they were using to take photographs and videos during the DSS violence also fell out of use once mobile internet was curtailed. With drones in operation, their tasks would have been much easier, Chawla said.

Panchkula deputy commissioner Gauri Parashar Joshi faced the brunt when her security staff could not communicate with the security personnel at the district court complex. SP Krishan Murari, who was heading a commando squad on the day, said they had to help Joshi scale a wall to escape the court complex as they could not ascertain a safe escape route. The DSS supporters had surrounded the entrances to the complex and were ready to clash with police authorities, he said. Joshi said she could not reach out to her colleagues in the administration to share important messages and orders as the mobile internet services didn’t work.

‘Ban can’t always be boon’

Ram Singh Bishnoi, who was cyber security in-charge with the Haryana police until January 2017, believes a medium like internet should not be broken down. “I agree that rumours spread like wildfire, but the government should devise other ways to counter the problem than imposing a ban on net services,” he said.

IG (Telecommunication) Paramjit Singh Ahlawat, however, said there is not much use of the internet when the situation turns volatile in the region. Things like internet don’t matter to people when their lives and property are in danger; these services are enjoyed when law and order is under control, he said.

The cops in Haryana, where internet has been shut down over 11 times in the past two years, may find some learning in the way former Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria avoided a scuffle from turning into a communal riot. Maria was lauded for using WhatsApp and SMS service to convince people not to believe rumours being circulated on their phones when clashes broke out between two communities in Lalbaug during Eid celebrations in early 2015.

Former Haryana DGP Mahender Singh Malik does not believe a ban on internet prevents any untoward incident. Government authorities take such a step in the name of maintaining law and order, but the real reason behind clamping internet is to avoid the masses from being aware of the blunders committed by the same authorities, alleged Malik, terming the decision to ban internet as “unwise” and “against the digital India” initiative of the Centre.

Malik also suggested that people should get compensation when internet shutdown is forced on them.

‘Internet is for the jobless’

However, not all officials in the police department seem to agree with the benefits of internet.

SP (Telecommunication) Vinod Kumar of Haryana Police said: “How does it (internet) matter to a common man? Internet is for those who have no serious job. It is for those who have time to kill on mobile phones, laptops and at cyber cafes.”

In nearby Uttar Pradesh as well, some cops were of the view that internet shutdown did not have much of an impact on their job or general administration. Sub-inspector Vijay Singh was posted in Saharanpur when internet was banned from May 24 for 10 days following caste clashes. “Internet band hone se farak sirf un logon ko pada jinhe din bhar keval mobile hee chalana hota hai. Kaam karne wala aadmi mobile aur internet par samay nahi bitata (Only those who have no work suffer because of internet ban. Those who have work in hand do not spend time on mobile and internet),” said Singh, who is now posted in Lucknow.

“Internet matlab kya - video, Facebook, blue film... aur kya? Agar itne bade gyani hai jinhe internet band hone se farak pada to wo yaha kya kar rahe hai, kahe nahi jakar ke IIT me admission le liye? (What does internet mean - videos, Facebook, porn films… what else? If you are so affected with internet being banned, why not go and study at IITs,” said Kaushlendra Pandey, another SI-rank policeman from Azamgarh district in UP.

The government of India, on the other hand, is campaigning to promote digital inclusion and accessibility across the country.

With additional inputs from Sat Singh and Saurabh Sharma, both members of 101Reporters.com

Manoj Kumar is a Chandigarh based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters. He has reported on a wide range of civic issues over the past 12 years. He has written for Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, Outlook, etc.

Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/internet-and-the-police-tool-to-some-trash-to-others

Was there an Unofficial Internet Shutdown in BHU & NTPC?

Saurabh Sharma — 2017-12-19T16:05:58Z

Strap: In Varanasi and Raebareli, residents allege internet bans, while govt denies it all.

Varanasi/ Rae Bareli: , Uttar Pradesh: During the student-led protests at Banaras Hindu University in September, anger over how the university handled a sexual harassment complaint was exacerbated by the police brutality that rained down the protesting female students. Amidst this chaos, many students inexplicably found that they unable to communicate with their parents and peers because they couldn’t connect online.

Shraddha Singh, a second-year fine arts student at BHU, had to walk three kilometres to reserve her train ticket home and couldn’t call her mother to talk about the injuries she sustained during the lathi-charge on September 23. The 21-year-old student said, “First, the police came into the hostel to beat us up. Then the internet was blocked. Neither was the hostel WiFi working, nor the mobile internet. Forget about booking tickets, we weren’t even able to make calls.” She felt this was a deliberate attempt to disrupt the protest by those who were “afraid” of where it would lead.

Worse still, the hostel warden had asked the girls to vacate their dorms immediately, and the students were cast into the streets without access to the Internet. Tanjim Haroom, a Bangladeshi political science student at the university, found herself stranded in Varanasi like many of her classmates. "I go home only once in a year but this time, I was forced to vacate the hostel and I could not get in touch with any of my relatives or family due to this sudden shutdown of internet and phone services. I was helpless in this city and just had some Rs 700 ($11) with me. I finally got shelter at the Mumukshu Ashram and was able to contact my family from their landline phone.”

Predictably, officials from the university insisted that there wasn’t any clampdown on the internet. The then vice-chancellor, Professor Girish Chandra Tripathi, when asked about this unofficial shutdown, said that there was none. "There could have been a network issue because the internet was working fine in our office. I cannot say what the students have alleged. Making allegations is very easy," he said over the phone to 101reporters. Varanasi district magistrate Yogeshwar Ram Mishra also denied that internet or phone services were suspended during the protests.

But a worrying number of first-person accounts do prove otherwise. According to Avinash Ojha, a first-year post-graduate student at the university, internet and phone services were restricted in the varsity campus soon after the lathi-charge on the students. They weren’t able to get online from the night of September 23 to 25.

The students had to go to Assi Ghat or other far-flung places to talk to their families and make travel arrangements out of the city. Ojha also suspected the hand of the university’s vice-chancellor behind this move.

Another case of suspected unofficial shutdown might have occurred on November 1, when a boiler explosion occurred at the National Thermal Power Corporation plant in Rae Bareili, that has since killed 34 people.

A senior officer of NTPC, on the condition of anonymity, told 101reporters that Reliance Jio was asked to cap their services in the area until things settled down. "I had heard my seniors discussing the need for this in order to avoid panic. There are a large number of Jio users here, so that specific service was asked to restrict its internet speed and calling facility for a while.”

Here too, there is evidence that the outage affected several people in the area. Amresh Singh, a property dealer hailing from Baiswara area of Rae Bareli was in Unchahar when the explosion occurred. He discovered that his phone network was not working. "There was no internet on my mobile phone after 4pm. I was able to access internet only after reaching Jagatpur, which is around 10 kilometres away from Unchahar," said Singh. “It felt like the phone lines were deliberately disrupted. I initially thought something was wrong with my phone, but the people with me were also not able to use their phones. Maybe the government quietly shut down the network to prevent panic.”

Mantu Baruah, a labourer from Jharkhand working at the NTPC, had a near-identical experience. His Jio network stopped working after 4pm that day, and he was unable to contact his family on WhatsApp to tell them that he was safe. "I tried many times, maybe over a hundred times, to send an image but it didn’t work. Jio network was down. Neither video calls nor phone calls were working. The authorities had made this happen so people outside wouldn’t know what was going on here.”

But Ruchi Ratna, AGM (HR) at NTPC’s North Zone office in Lucknow, tells us that there was a network congestion that day, not a shutdown. "Even we were unable to talk to our officers and were getting our information through the media," she said. Sanjay Kumar Khatri, Rae Bareily's district magistrate said over the phone, "There is no question of an 'unofficial shutdown'. I myself faced issues in sending messages on WhatsApp but my BSNL mobile was working fine and even journalists here were sending images and videos real time.”

However, a senior communication manager at Reliance Jio's Vibhuti Khand office in Lucknow revealed to this reporter that the internet was indeed restricted in both these instances for 12 hours each. "This was only done on the order of the government. I do not hold any written information, but it must be with the head office," the communication manager said. At the time of publishing, our requests for comments from the official spokespeople of Jio had not received a response.

Arvind Kumar, principal secretary (Home), Uttar Pradesh government, said that there were no restrictions or shutdowns during either incident. "There could have been network issues. The government did not ask any service provider to restrict its services. I will look into the matter, about where the orders to restrict Jio were issued from, but it did not come from the Uttar Pradesh government," he said.

While activists have roundly criticised the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency of Public Safety) Rules, notified in August without public consultation, there is now a better-defined (albeit still vague) protocol for implementation of internet blackouts. For instance, only the central or state home secretary can issue the orders. Prior to this, internet restrictions were issued by various authorities, along with section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, aimed at preventing “obstruction, annoyance or injury”. This wide berth has allowed the administration to quietly get away with short-term internet bans without proper explanation. In fact, those monitoring these shutdowns are only able to maintain such records by tracking media reports; no official records are available to the public. Without official transparency, often, if there is no news story, it is like there was no internet ban.

Saurabh Sharma is a Lucknow-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.

Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/was-there-an-unofficial-internet-shutdown-in-bhu-ntpc

Internet and Banking: A Trust Broken

Roshan Gupta — 2017-12-19T16:10:43Z

Strap: Some cut down their daily meals and some lost their jobs as the banking sector took a major hit during internet shutdowns.

Darjeeling, West Bengal: As the Internet shutdown in Darjeeling touched the notorious landmark of 100 days in late September, its impact was felt by members of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) — the party agitating for a separate state of Gorkhaland. The state government’s move had managed to impair the communication and coordination among the agitators.

However, for most residents, lack of access to the internet meant months of crippled bank transactions and mounting financial strain. The impact of the move was felt by all sections of society and most services experienced a slowdown or complete paralysis.

Students from the town were among the worst hit as the internet ban cut off a steady flow of money from home for academic purposes.

“I had to cut down my daily meals to once a day to save whatever little currency notes I had, especially since it was not clear when the ban would be lifted,” said Shradha Subba, a resident of Darjeeling who is pursuing her Bachelors degree in Kolkata.

Her parents were not able to send her money due to the ban and arranging cash from another state was also not an option. “I had no option but to borrow money and even that was difficult as all my friends were from the hills and faced the same problem,” said Subba.

The parents of many students also felt hard done by the shutdown and said they often found it difficult to communicate with their children. Transferring money for their monthly educational needs was also impossible. “We were able to make phone-calls to our children once in a while, but we could not see them as video-calling was out of the question. We also could not send the money for their semester fees on time and had to ask our relatives in Sikkim to arrange cash for them,” said a concerned mother whose daughter was studying in Delhi.

The ban on mobile internet was imposed on June 18, 2017. Two days later, broadband service was also restricted. The initial shutdown was meant to last for only a week but it had since seen several extensions owing to non-cessation of agitations. Banks were left helpless especially in the face of uncertainty regarding when the restrictions would be lifted.

“None of the banking services were functional and no transactions were done during the period of internet shutdown. Even the ATMs were closed and people could not be provided normal service,” said Jagabandhu Mondal, district branch manager, State Bank of India.

People routinely missed bill payments and no online transactions were done during the course of the ban. Reports emerged of people travelling over 80 kilometres, either to Siliguri or to Sikkim, just to withdraw some money.

Those who had purchased new vehicles found themselves struggling to pay their monthly instalments despite having cash in their accounts. Travelling to Siliguri to pay the instalment was also daunting as the road transportation was restricted by agitating political parties and supporters picketing on the streets.

Santosh Rai, a resident who had purchased a car just before the internet ban, said: “I could not go to Siliguri or even pay online. Now I’m facing claims for penalty. It was very hard for the vehicle owners to pay the EMI for three months along with a penalty. I asked for help from my friends but how long will they pay.”

He claimed that several people were forced to default on payments due to the blanket ban imposed by the government. “We could have deposited the EMI but the banks were closed, and that is not our fault,” said Rai.

Another victim, Mukesh Rai, also echoed Santosh’s sentiments while describing how he had to default on EMI payments towards his new car. “I used to walk towards Melli, Rangpo, or Singtam (all small towns in Sikkim) to withdraw money as my family and I were in need of liquid cash. Even that became difficult mid-monsoon,” he said.

Experts also pointed out that the ban was enforced even as the rest of the country discussed Digital India and a push towards cashless economy.

Another resident, Pema Namgyal, said he had lost a job because of the ban on internet services. He had opted to work from home for an advertising agency based out of Bangalore. “I had taken up an editing and copywriting job with an advertising agency. I had an issue with my spine and since long leaves are not possible in creative agencies, I opted to work from home. Five days after I reached here, an indefinite strike was called and the internet was shut down. I couldn’t work as per my client’s schedule and when I could not coordinate with him, he looked for another copywriter and asked me to refund an advance payment he had made,” said Namgyal.

The manager of an HDFC bank branch, Paul Tshring Lepcha, said, “We use BSNL connections usually for banking work and once the network was down we had a hard time updating our system… there are alternative portals like Airtel and Vodafone but even that was of no use at the time,” recalls Lepcha,

Book size of private banks too saw a drop in these 100 days and the regulation regarding monthly maintenance of ₹5,000 in their customers’ accounts could not be continued. Officials from Indusland Bank said that people even started preferring government banks as they have a lower maintenance requirement. “During the ban period, no new account holders were registered and the mutual funds market also experienced a lull,” said an official from a private bank.

Roshan Gupta is a Siliguri-based journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.

Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/internet-and-banking-a-trust-broken

Stock Brokers Don't Love an Internet Shutdown

Binita Parikh — 2017-12-19T16:20:49Z

Strap: For a trade that rides on price volatility and fast reactions, an internet shutdown is a costly slowdown.

Ahmedabad, Gujarat: An internet shutdown means breaking contact with the lifeline of the stock market: information about share price movement. “The entire momentum for trading and investing comes from the control the trader feels he has on information about share prices," says Minesh Modi, a trader based in Ahmedabad. "The internet puts information on our fingertips, so the trader could play on the stock exchange. It gives you a sense of control on the data, and is also mechanism to trade."

So, when the Gujarat government shut the internet down for a week during the Patel agitation in September 2015, and for four hours to prevent cheating on phones during a Revenue Accountants Recruitment Exam in February 2016, Modi says, "That intense feeling of connect goes away, and the faith is shaken.”

An obvious fallout of mobile internet shutdown is that terminals connected via phone internet stop working, and mobile trade is not possible. However, many Gujarati investors say that while they check price variations and movements online, they still trade through brokerage houses. Playing the stock market is usually a part-time business activity for most Gujaratis. “I don’t trade online directly. I place actual orders of purchase/sell through my broker," says YK Gupta, an investor in the city. Still, he did struggle during the internet shutdown. “I couldn't keep a tab on the price movement, and had to call up my broker for updates. How many times can I take updates on the phone? The television gives prices of only a few stocks, and there is a delay of three to five minutes of prices on the television. Stock prices being as volatile as they are, that time gap can be life-changing in the stock market.” Not willing to risk a huge mistake, Gupta chose to stay away from making any stock transactions during internet shut down.

The stock market rides on people's aspirations and individual deductions about trends and data, which in turn impacts business valuations. Since internet penetration has increased, traders say there is a premium on speedy reaction as well. Anil Shah, a former director with the Bombay Stock Exchange (2011-14) and a member of the National Stock Exchange, believes that an internet shutdown, however partial, will paralyse the ecosystem that sustains the share market. “Most of our work is on the terminals and when they stop, the smooth flow gets disrupted. The information that is the base in the stock market, the actual trading and fund flow work, all this will stop. When the internet stops, data stops, and the flow of work stops. It's as simple as that,” he says.

Recalling the impact of the internet and how it has evolved and woven itself into the stock market ecosystem, Shah adds, “Earlier, when the telephone number was the basis of trading, we could establish connectivity via phones. But since 2006-7, we have slowly moved to the internet to establish interconnectivity. The more reliable, faster and cheaper the internet services got, the more it integrated itself into our trading patterns. More people shifted to it as a connecting platform. About 95% connections are now established online."

He says that NSE/BSE members now have a dedicated lease line so that they don’t lose contact with the stock market. "Many brokerage firms are connected via VSAT linkages, so that we, as Gujarat state, don’t get disconnected fully with the rest of India. The loss due to internet shutdown is not quantifiable. It will have to be measured as the cost of a missed opportunity."

It is not just the stocks, but also banking transactions that stop or decrease drastically in volume when the internet stops, Shah says. “During the Patidar agitation, mobile internet services in most areas were shut down. However, broadband services were not stopped, so the brokers managed to keep the ball rolling. But brokers will lose in volumes. It is difficult to put a figure to it, but the movement and momentum of trade goes down.”

Echoing a similar sentiment, VK Sharma, head of Public Consulting Group and Capital Market Strategy at HDFC Securities, says that large companies have the facility to call their other branch offices and get the transactions through. So only customers and traders who don’t have a landline fallback option will be affected. However, those who wish to transact on the stock market with help of mobiles will not be able to do so. “This way, the volume of transactions is not stopped completely, but definitely curtailed,” Sharma says. “The decrease can be roughly estimated to be around 3%, but the state-wise breakdown of transactions and impact is not available from the exchange. Moreover, internet slowdown or shutdown results in a lot of disputes among traders and brokers - about the price entered into for transaction and the price that the deal is finalised on.”

Sarit Choksi, an investor who trades regularly, lamented the absence of a recovery mechanism for the losses that the people incurred. “When the net shuts off, we have to call the broker, who does not have dedicated phone lines to handle the huge hike in calls, so getting through to him is itself a challenge,” he says. “Then, as we don’t have the information at our fingertips, we cannot adjust the mutual funds choice, ‘stop loss’ and set ‘buy or sell’ limits in tune with the market movement. By the time I see it on tv, and get through to the broker to execute the deal, the price has changed. Who is going to compensate for this loss?”

It’s impractical to tell the Stock Exchange Bureau of India or the traders that the transactions could not go through due to internet shutdown, or ask them to forgive the price difference due to the long waiting time on the telephone. If brokerage houses makes a mistake, Choksi explains, arbitration is available, but there is no platform to claim or address the kind of losses one incurs due to external limitations like an internet ban.

“If internet connectivity is put on ransom due to political ambitions, it is very disruptive,” Choksi says. “In a society deliberately being pushed to go digital, the impact of such a shutdown is felt in financial and social sectors. When such political decisions are taken without considering the other impacts, our bread and butter is affected, and we are left high and dry, with no recourse or means to compensate the loss.”

Binita Parikh is a Ahmedabad - based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.

Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/stock-brokers-dont-love-an-internet-shutdown

Internet Shutdowns: A Modern-day Siege

Ayswarya Murthy — 2017-12-19T16:29:41Z

Strap: Technology activists, lawyers, politicians and NGOs weigh in on the spate of internet shutdowns in India in 2017.

Bangalore, Karnataka: For thousands of years, military sieges have been an effective means of depriving a population into submission. Attackers would surround the fort or city and simply wait for the food to run out. In today’s connected age, you can mount a successful siege remotely with a single signed order that can shut down the internet and practically bring life to a standstill.

So, it’s not surprising that inter-governmental organisations and NGOs around the world are starting to promote the idea that access to internet is a fundamental right, and watchdogs declare any deliberate interference to this access to be a violation of human rights. “In today’s modern digital world, shutting down mobile and internet networks is a drastic action that infringes on everyone’s rights and is inherently disproportionate. Internet shutdowns cut off everyone’s ability to speak and access information, regardless of whether they have done anything wrong. Considering the broad harm to rights that shutdowns can cause, government officials should certainly take them more seriously as a human rights violation,” says Cynthia Wong, senior internet researcher at Human Rights Watch.

But in India, there is no legal recourse yet against such decisions. In 2015, a Public Interest Litigation filed in the Gujarat High Court against a week-long internet shutdown was dismissed (as was a Special Leave Petition filed in the Supreme Court in 2016 challenging this decision). In fact, tech entrepreneur and Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekar attributes the dramatic increase in the number of internet blocks in 2017, which has doubled since last year, to this ruling. “This dramatic increase in the number of internet blocks can be attributed to the Supreme Court ruling in February 2016 which upheld the right of districts and states to ban mobile internet services for maintaining law and order .”

Typically, mobile internet bans were enforced under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which can prohibit assembly of more than four people and is usually invoked by a district magistrate. “Indeed, mobs come together due to the spread of misinformation over internet services such as Facebook and WhatsApp,” says Chandrasekar. “However, internet shutdowns also disabled authentic news organisations who can dispel such misinformation. I have argued that governments and administrations do have the right to shut down internet or take down content consistent with the Constitution’s Article 19 guarantee of fundamental right to free speech being subject to reasonable restrictions. So, the debate is not whether the government has a right to temporarily shut down the internet or not, but does the government or administration use this right reasonably and with clear guidelines,” he warns.

Enter the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency of Public Safety) Rules that were released in August. The primary concern of tech activists is that these ‘Suspension Rules’ set a dangerous precedent because they legalise internet shutdowns where ideally there should be none. But these rules also received a wary welcome.

"Use of an archaic law like Section 144 of CrPC for shutting down the internet is not justified. The new rules seem to have been hastily put together without much forethought," according to Prasanth Sugathan, legal director at Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC). “There is no transparency on how these rules were drafted as there was no consultation with the stakeholders. These rules are not conducive to ensuring the right to internet access of citizens which is essential for the success of initiatives like Digital India. As regulations go, these aren’t particularly robust, giving central and state governments the power to shut down telecom services, without having to cite further reasoning than “public safety” and “national security”. In fact, the rules don’t even specify a maximum duration after which services must be restored."

Calling the whole deal shoddy, Sugathan says it seems like they were put out just to subvert the illegality of Internet shutdowns.

Chandrasekar also feels the process should have been more consultation-driven. “The rules can and must be improved to remove adhocism and arbitrary use. As I say repeatedly, these kinds of government policies run the real risk of straying from the reasonable restrictions acceptable to our Constitution to an infringement of the Right to Expression. Governments, especially political leadership, should be careful that bureaucratic lack of imagination or paranoia or simply laziness doesn’t cause that crossover from right to wrong.”

According to SFLC, which has been tracking internet shutdowns in the country over the past five years, authorities in India have shut down networks 60 times just in 2017, spelling a staggering cost to the economy beyond the incalculable harm to human rights. Brookings estimated that the 22 network shutdowns in India from 2015-2016 cost the country’s economy $968 million. It’s baffling that while the government is pushing citizens to embrace ‘Digital India’ on one hand, they are concurrently pulling the rug from underneath these same users with these total and partial internet shutdowns. “From the perspective of promoting India’s digital economy, if people learn they cannot rely on their mobile phone service because of arbitrary disruptions, they are less likely to adopt digital technologies. If the Indian government truly wants to be a global leader in the digital age, it should cease all arbitrary and overbroad restrictions on internet access,” says Wong.

Osama Manzer, founder of Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), has an ever-expanding roster of people who were keenly affected by the shutdowns in their regions, irrespective of whether it last three days or three months. “One of the biggest impacts is that residents must live with is that their access to basic services becomes very limited. In Darjeeling, many state government employees were not paid their salaries because the banking system is online and centralised. The livelihood of sim card sellers and recharge shop owners, internet cafes and mom-and-pop shops that offer printing, scanning, online form filling services took a huge hit. It is especially detrimental to them since they rely on daily sales for their income,” he says.

While the economic impact of internet shutdowns has been documented, the social and psychological impact is just as crucial to investigate, says Manzer, especially in cases where these shutdowns are frequent and long term. DEF is in the final stages of releasing a report based on such a research. “We've found through our research that when shutdowns are ordered for a few days, residents can reason it out and some even find justifications for it. They may say the security and safety circumstances warranted it. But prolonged shutdowns have an acute negative impact on residents psychologically. Residents of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and J&K feel the impact of internet shutdowns acutely. They feel doubly isolated from the rest of the country and their faith in the government erodes. People we've interviewed have said they feel helpless and panicked. Some interviewees in Kashmir went so far as to question the democratic process and their right to it.”

Ayswarya Murthy is a Bangalore-based journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.

Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/internet-shutdowns-a-modern-day-siege

Darjeeling’s e-commerce Crumbles after 100 days sans Internet

Avijit Sarkar — 2017-12-20T03:16:40Z

Strap: The shutdown on ground and that of the internet have together hurt the economy critically

Darjeeling, West Bengal: Chitra Dutta, 80, owner of a courier service in Darjeeling called Turant, says the 108 days of bandh (strike), including the 100-day ban on internet, had almost paralyzed her business. The shutdown on ground and that of the internet led to courier packages being undistributed for three months. Despite suffering severe loss of revenue, Dutta says she had to pay her employees’ salaries during the bandh, and “it won’t be before March next year” that she will be able to make up for the losses.

When Darjeeling suffered 108 days of bandh called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) to press their demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland, the worst hit were businesses in the hills. What made it even more difficult for traders to cope up with the loss was the complete absence of internet services, as several of them depended on the medium to run their operations.

GJM’s movement for Gorkhaland picked up momentum when Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) government tried to impose Bengali as a compulsory subject for all schools in West Bengal in early 2017. GJM party chief Bimal Gurung called for an indefinite bandh of all activities in the hills from June 15. It led to several incidents of arson, violence and deaths in retaliatory police action. From June 18, internet services were banned in Darjeeling and Kalimpong. The ban was lifted on September 25.

Dutta’s Turant, a third-party firm, has a tie-up with major courier service providers Bluedart and Ecospeed to distribute their consignments in Darjeeling and around. Another major player in the delivery business, Amazon, had finalized Turant as its service provider in the hills just before the internet ban, but the deal remained in a dicey state after the situation worsened and Darjeeling was cut off from rest of the state, she says. Her business largely depends on a software to track the goods and communicate with business providers and customers, but the prolonged breakdown of internet has brought it to a halt. Dutta says they used to deliver around 40 parcels per day before the shutdown, but no business materialized during the bandh.

Bitter days for tea trade

Girish Sarda, a third generation owner of Nathmulls Tea and Sunset Lounge, an online-cum-retail business outlet that exports Darjeeling tea, says he is disappointed with the state of affairs in the hills.

“Ninety per cent of my business is internet-based. In international trading if you stop supplies to your client for three months, they will source tea from elsewhere to run their business. Clients from Japan started asking me how I was surviving,” says Sarda.

Explaining the losses he faced due to the internet shutdown, he says, “Only 5% of my business is operational at present. I have six months of tea produce and I don’t know how I am going to sell that. It will take months for me to get back on my feet. I’m gone. Things are still hazy here and god only knows when the situation will return to normal.”

The harvest season’s second plucking (of tea leaves), called the second flush, is considered to provide high quality premium tea, and draws the best price. The shutdown in Darjeeling overlapped with the second and the third flush, which occur between the months of June and August, and October and November, respectively. Sarda says, “The bandh ensured there was no second flush and a poor third flush. The entire tea industry has seen the worst phase ever. It may take three years to get back to normalcy.”

Darjeeling produces around 8.9 million kg of tea per annum. Of this, around 20 lakh kg is premium tea and sold at high price, according to S K Saria, owner of Rohini and Gopaldhara Tea Estates. While 80% of the tea produce is sold through auction in Siliguri and Kolkata, the rest is sold directly by traders in Kolkata and Darjeeling, including the 45-60kg tea per day sold online.

Hotel business too saw a downfall in the Darjeeling hills. Vijay Khanna, secretary of Gorkha Hotel Owners Association, says, “Most of the hotel bookings are done online, and we need the internet to check these. The sudden shutdown has left the hotel industry in a bad shape. Clients from abroad could not be informed of the sudden closure of all establishments and few even failed to understand what a bandh is.”

“It was and still is a very difficult time for the industry. Neither the state nor the central government is interested in our plight. There are just a handful of tourists here. Darjeeling hills are out of business,” Khanna says.

Restraining GJM's 'message'

Bimal Gurung, the GJM chief who floated the party in 2007 to capitalize on the growing public disenchantment with Subhash Ghisingh’s way of leading Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), realised the power of internet and social media early on, and utilized the medium to push the propaganda for Gorkhaland statehood through his party.

Several audio and video messages, where Gurung alleges the present TMC government and the chief minister of dividing the hill people by creating separate bodies for each tribe and taking them for a ride, had been going around on WhatsApp and other platforms before his call for an indefinite strike in Darjeeling. West Bengal government responded to the GJM’s call for strike with a heavy hand, initiating police action against protesters and raiding Gurung’s home and offices. However, the Gorkha community residing in the Dooars and Terai region kept on getting his messages throughout the shutdown period as internet was on in these regions.

The movement only kept the Gorkhas away from critical resources like internet that fortify their market, it has not led to any productive dialogue towards statehood yet. The combined effect of internet ban and indefinite strike has hurt the economy of the hills so bad that it will take months to recover. However, people are still unsure about the recovery.

Avijit Sarkar is a Siliguri-based journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.

Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/darjeeling2019s-e-commerce-crumbles-after-100-days-sans-internet

Education and Employment Opportunities Tossed out of the Window

Roshan Gupta — 2017-12-20T15:41:37Z

Strap: Schools, students and teachers remember how they survived 100 days of internet shutdown.

Darjeeling, West Bengal: When a shutdown was placed on internet services in Darjeeling on June 18, it was unclear how long it would last or what it would mean to the schools, colleges and the academic community at large.

However, the more time the town spent cut off from the web a picture emerged of an education system, which had increasingly taken most of its activities online, caught completely off-guard. Missed school payments, lack of clarity on admissions and important dates became commonplace. Students were forced to find new ways to share notes and study without search engines.

The shutdown was first announced for a week but it eventually lasted 100 days, with several extensions in between. This meant that the restrictions came at a particularly bad time with many important academic dates falling within this period.

The online registrations for schools following the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) syllabus were set to start mid-July but did not take place as planned. The ICSE council heads had to later give an assurance to extend the dates for registration till late August.

The ban was lifted only in late September and this extension eventually proved inadequate. Representatives of many schools said they had to travel to Siliguri to complete the online registration of students who would be appearing for their board exams next year.

“Most of the schools had to go to Siliguri to access fast internet for the registrations. Schools like St. Augustine and St. Joseph’s Convent could also not post results of their term examinations online,” said a source.

Saptashri Gyanpeeth, a school in Kalimpong, had designed a new website to post their results and other activities, but they had to wait until the shutdown was lifted to get it up and running. “We could not update our website, we could not post about the school openings and activities for the alumni,” said a teacher at the school.

Schools in the area also use the web to make available notes and study materials, and authorities said they were hard pressed to work around the restrictions that had been enforced. Other routine activities like independent research by the students or a basic Google search for unclear concepts quickly became a thing of the past.

“Most students study the material provided in the textbooks and guide books. But there are a few who are creative and look for new information and ideas, and they found it very difficult during the internet shutdown,” said Milan Chettri, a teacher in St. Mary School.

Teachers from several schools often had to take classes without adequate preparation. “Sometimes teachers also need the internet to cover all the angles of the topics we teach in class, our homework so to speak,” said Chettri.

Many parents claimed that paying school fees on time was cumbersome and inconvenient. Many schools were also unable to offer the parents time to make the payments as salaries for their staff was also due. “We used to pay fees online but not having internet for three months meant that we were put in a position where we had to pay a late fee,” said Dawa Tamang, whose daughter is set to take her board exam next year.

The clampdown on services also threw a spanner in the works of online admissions in several colleges. Late June to August-end is when these admissions take place and the new batch of students hit a major roadblock in securing entry to good colleges.

Many students also complained of not getting admissions in cities of their choice due to delayed applications. Some who didn't want to wait another year had no choice but to take admissions in local colleges.

Some colleges tried to ease the hassle by extending admissions but had a limited effect as it was not clear when services would be restored. The heads of all 46 colleges affiliated to North Bengal University (NBU) based in the Hills had negotiated with the varsity officials, seeking to extend the dates for the admission process. “We had received letters from the colleges, mostly from the Dooars, asking if the admission procedures could be extended,” confirmed Dr Nupur Das, Secretary of the Undergraduate Council, NBU.

Principal of Parimal Mitra Smriti College in Malbazar, Uma Maji Mukhrjee, said, “The suspension of internet services had cut down the opportunities for the students to apply. They had to visit the campus and take admissions manually.”

Colleges also had little way of letting the students know if they had been admitted. Principal of St. Joseph’s College, Darjeeling, Fr Dr Donatus Kujur SJ, said, “Our admission procedures run from June 5-15. We could not publish the merit list as we had no network.”

However, in late July, a few pockets — including areas like Mall road, adjoining areas of Bhanu Bhakta in Darjeeling Carmichael Road, Delo, Durpin and Chiso-pani in Kalimpong — did get data signal from Sikkim. As word spread, internet connections at these places, however slow or unreliable, proved to be a great relief for people.

“My sister had just graduated from college and she had come home for a few days. We often climbed up to the hotspots where we could receive internet signals, but the speed was so slow that pages couldn’t be loaded. She had a lot of trouble applying for jobs. Eventually, she was somehow able to apply, only to later find that she could not check any call letters or responses to those applications,” said Manisha Tamang, who was at the time on the lookout for jobs herself.

Months after the restrictions were lifted in late September, the registrations have now been completed and most schools in the Hills have adjusted their winter breaks to compensate for the 100-day paralysis. The final exams have also been rescheduled for January.

Roshan Gupta is a Siliguri-based journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.

Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/education-and-employment-opportunities-tossed-out-of-the-window

ISPs in Kashmir Grappling with Mounting Losses Amid Recurrent Shutdowns

Safeena Wani — 2017-12-20T15:54:06Z

Strap: Internet savvy youth taking to alternative routes to access the world wide web.

Srinagar, J&K: CNS Infotel Services, once a buzzing cybercafé in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk, is now a prominent internet service provider (ISP) for the town. It is popular for providing uninterrupted, fast internet connection, but that reputation has been tough to maintain as the Kashmir Valley has witnessed 56 internet shutdowns since 2012, 38 over the last two years alone. This has pushed the economy downhill and discouraged new enterprises from emerging.

Once the internet is blocked, executives at ISPs either skip calls to avoid public ire, or express their helplessness over the sudden disruption of internet ordered by authorities in the wake of some security situation.

An executive at CNS, Imran says how a sudden ‘police directive’ often forces them to apply the internet ‘kill switch’. “In May this year,” says Imran, “we received a circular stating that authorities want us to block 22 social media and messaging sites, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Skype, Telegram and Viber, with immediate effect.” That day, CNS executives were only repeating a prohibition procedure that has become a norm in the Valley. In the post-2008 Kashmir, as street protests became the popular
mode of dissent, the state’s observation has been that resistance is being “fuelled by social media.”

“There’s a perpetual struggle for us to grapple between police orders and annoyed customers,” says Owais Mir, an executive of G Technologies, another ISP in Srinagar. “The frequent internet gags hamper our operations… annoyed customers often threaten to either switch over to another service provider or to deactivate their connections.”

Mobile data and broadband services in Kashmir were banned 10 times between April 8 and July 13 in 2017. “By then,” Imran says, “we were running into huge losses.”

While Imran does not have an actual figure to quote about the loss he faced, mobile ISPs were decrying daily losses to the tune of Rs 2 crore between April and July 2017.

According to Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), mobile service providers in Kashmir suffered losses worth Rs 180 crore during that period. When such orders are passed, usually, except the state-run BSNL, other service providers — Airtel, Aircel, Vodafone and Reliance (Jio) — promptly shut down their operations. The postpaid BSNL numbers, which are mainly with police, army and government officials, continue running.

Alternative access

The repeated loss of communication in the Valley has prompted Kashmiri netizens to explore solutions. Many of them have learnt to access the Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), mostly through broadband internet and state-owned BSNL, in order to continue using messaging services and social media.

A VPN uses proxy servers to securely access a private network while allowing users to change location and share data remotely through public networks. It secures a connection through encryption and security protocols, and enables access to content that is otherwise blocked. VPN keeps the ISP from placing restrictions on access.

“VPNs help us to overcome the irrational social media blockade,” says Shagufta Mir, a college student from Srinagar. “More than a political statement, using VPN sends out a positive message that Kashmiris have evolved to tackle repeated restrictions imposed on them.” Most users have learnt about VPNs from their tech-savvy peers.

“When the government banned social media earlier this year,” says Shafat Hamid, a trader, “my friend taught me how to access a VPN. I felt empowered to be able to overcome the frequent gag on online activities.”

‘India worse than Iraq’

Jammu & Kashmir has higher internet penetration than the all-India average with 28.62 internet subscribers per 100 people compared to the national figure of 25.37.

Although broadband was functioning, the suspended mobile internet for over five months from July 9 to Nov 19, 2016 (data services on pre-paid mobiles remained suspended until January 27, 2017) saw many operators winding up. During that period, internetshutdowns.in, a website run by Delhi-based non-profit Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC) to track incidents of internet shutdowns across India, recorded that Kashmir had no internet access for “over 2,920 hours”. This made India worse than Iraq and Pakistan in terms of number of days without internet, according to a report by the Brookings Institution.

According to a report, out of the 14,000 local youth employed in the IT sector in the Valley, an estimated 7,000 people lost their jobs due to the frequent internet shutdowns imposed last year. Online businesses incurred losses worth Rs 40-50 lakh on a daily basis during that period.

During the internet shutdown last year, COAI had written to the department of telecommunications that such communication bans have an adverse impact on the subscribers and result in losses to telecom operators. “Kashmir lost around 4.5 lakh active subscribers during the 2016 unrest,” says Sameer Parray, an area manager for Vodafone.

But service providers say they have to comply with the orders, lest their licenses be cancelled.

Safeena Wani is a Srinagar-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.

Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/isps-in-kashmir-grappling-with-mounting-losses-amid-recurrent-shutdowns

E-administration Efforts are Lame Ducks without Internet

Amit Kumar & Sat Singh — 2017-12-20T16:05:44Z

Strap: How Haryana engages with the Digital India dream when one act of vandalism can invite a net ban.

Fatehabad, Haryana: It took Mahender Kumar a week to brush up his DJ-ing skills and understand what songs to play for crowds at different events. It wasn’t done out of some special love for music.

When he had to stop operations of his Common Service Center in Fatehabad district’s Badopal village for the third time in 18 months because of an internet shutdown “caused” by violence in his state, Mahender had to revisit his teenage hobby. He was more cautious about running a centre that depended on the internet. After all, the 31-year-old had to do something to feed a family of five. “Kuch to kaam karna tha. Parivar ko bhukhe to rakh nahi sakte."

Launched in 2015 as part of the central government’s ambitious Digital India programme, Common Service Centers or Atal Sewa Kendras (ASKs) are the “access points for delivery of various e-governance and business services to citizens in rural and remote areas of the country”. Sikander Kumar, in-charge of the Fatehabad District Informatics Center, informs that there are 14 such centers in urban areas and a whopping 223 in rural areas in his district alone.

These Kendras deal with banking, insurance, pension, health, and even railway ticketing, Aadhaar services, and electricity bill payment. The Haryana government claims to have integrated “around 170+ state government services of varied departments” with this scheme. More are in the pipeline.

Mahender, who undertook operations of the Kendra in December 2015, earns commissions ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 100 from his customers. A Rs 10 for paying electricity bills, another Rs 10 for correcting every mistake in Aadhar cards. He even fills up job applications and pension forms using the internet. His daily earning ranges from Rs 1000 to Rs 1200, and he provides food and pays Rs 1500 each to the two persons who assist him occasionally.

“Things were running in perfect order until February 2016. I had to incur losses after losses due to multiple internet bans since then," says Mahender. The Jat reservation stir of February 2016 had led to an internet ban when protests turned violent in various parts of Haryana. Internet service were suspended as a preventive measure a year later in March when the protests were brewing again. When Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim was convicted for rape in August 2017, Fatehabad faced internet shutdown for a week.

Mahender lost his bread and butter on these occasions, and being a part-time DJ was his way of minimising the risk. He continues to run the center though.

Rajesh Kumar too makes a living by running an ASK in Dhangar in Fatehabad. A graduate in arts from the National College in Sirsa, he started the Kendra in October 2015. Though he has reservations about the crawling pace of internet in his village, it doesn’t stop him from fulfilling the needs of customers who can be found “flooding the Kendra on any working day”.

He places great importance on the role of the center he runs. After the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes in November 2016, Rajesh says his Kendra “reduced the inconveniences caused to common people by the move”. When the cash lying around became of no use, the e-banking services his centre offered came to the rescue. This is why he doesn’t approve of the internet shutdowns. “Rural areas suffer the most. My friends in cities do not have to go through this.”

Even updating panchayat records on time is a hassle during shutdowns. Rajesh Koth, Fatehabad district development and panchayat officer, does not directly face the brunt of internet shutdowns since his office functions out of the mini-secretariat, which continues using internet through a lease line meant for such situations. But shutdowns do affect his department’s work as the 200 something panchayats with which emails are to be exchanged do not have the same luxury. “Village panchayats have been equipped with a computer and an internet connection, which are used to update the department on development works passed by the panchayat,” Rajesh says.

With villages losing access to whatever internet they had, panchayats have to send physical records to the Fatehabad district headquarters, thereby increasing the office’s burden.

Internet lost, grains lost

The impact of internet shutdowns on the administration’s e-governance schemes was felt even by fair price shops. Subhash Singh has been running a ration depot in the same village as Mahender’s, Badopal, for a decade now. It wasn’t just Subhash’s loss when he couldn’t disburse ration because of the internet shutdown in August 2017.

He says he was bound by authorities to not distribute ration without an Aadhar-enabled authentication using a thumbprint. “Several people came, but they had to return empty-handed due to failing biometric verification. I must’ve lost about Rs 2500 in that time.”

Fatehabad district food and supply controller Ashok Bansal confirmed that his department had indeed “issued clear instructions as mandated by the government to distribute ration only after Aadhar-enabled verification”. Strict action is taken on complaints for not complying this order, he says.

Being his only source of income, Subhash eventually "spent a lot of time and energy to persuade people to return” to his shop again. But he clearly remembers how he was accused of finding an excuse to not give people their lot of ration.

Amit Kumar and Sat Singh are Haryana-based members of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.

Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/e-administration-efforts-are-lame-ducks-without-internet

Mobile net ban during peaceful protest leaves farmers confused

Shruti Jain — 2018-01-19T15:20:14Z

Strap: Administration says it was done to prevent rumours from spreading, protesters insist they needed internet to fight it.

In Sikar district, about 15,000 farmers had staged a protest at Krishi Upaj Mandi on 1 September 2017 under the banner of All India Kisan Sabha. Their major demands were farm loan waiver, pension for farmers and implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission. The protest had the support of students, traders' associations, anganwadi workers, transport unions and a few other organisations. About 100,000 people joined farmers in a solidarity march during the next 13 days.

The demonstrations continued and when talks with the government failed, thousands of farmers set out to lay siege to the district collector's office and block highways on September 11.

Accordingly, the district administration clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code, restricting assembly of five or more people, and blocked mobile internet in the district.

Kishan Pareek, district secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist) which took part in the protest, contended that though the government says the ban was enforced to check the spread of violence, the actual motive was something else. He says the administration was vying to stifle their movement but couldn’t use force as the protesters were peaceful.

"So, they resorted to spreading rumours to provoke us to commit any violent activity. If internet was working that time, we could have easily denied those [rumours],” he says.

According to Pareek, the rumours that circulated that day included: the protest has turned violent at some location, police have fired bullets/charged baton at the protesters, additional force has been called in from Jaipur etc. As broadband was operational, the organisers managed to counter falsehood with facts and the misinformation didn't spread outside Sikar. Pareek says whichever protest-spot the rumours portrayed as violence-ridden, their social media team shared videos from there on Facebook to counter them.

Pictures above: Thousands of farmers held a protest at Krishi Upaj Mandi, Sikar in September 2017.

Nevertheless, in the absence of mobile internet, farmers’ teams that had gathered at various highways to block roads had difficulty processing the false information that was trickling in. Though it created much confusion among them, it failed to instigate them.

Rajpal Singh, a Sikar-based member of CPI(M)'s social media wing, informed that the mainstream media didn't give much attention to the protest. He says it were local websites and newspapers that covered the event, which is why the administration banned internet, hoping restriction on the flow of information would throw a spanner in the works. Apart from local news websites, local Facebook pages -- Sikar Aapno, Sikar Sandesh, We love CPIM- Dhod and CPIM Sikar, etc. -- were giving minute-by-minute updates of the farmers' protest.

The internet services were resumed in Sikar a day later as the protest did not get violent and the protesters were not found circulating any provocative content.

A former CPI(M) MLA, president of All India Kisan Sabha and leader of the farmers' agitation, Amara Ram, told 101Reporters that one of the very reasons their movement enjoyed humongous public support was its peaceful nature. He says as their movement unfolded, people from Sikar and outside realised this protest would not turn violent and it’s a cause that needed support.

As cautious as the government might have been about the September 11 protest, police presence indicated that the law-enforcement agency did not perceive it as a threat. One of the protesters, Nemichand, says only 50-odd policemen had been deputed for the protest march of 15,000+ farmers to the district collectorate. He claimed that the number of men in khaki dwindled to 20 by the afternoon.

He alleged that the real reason for internet shutdown was stopping the dissemination of news about their protest as it exposes the Modi government's inconsiderate approach towards farmers.

“Everybody in Sikar was talking about the internet ban. Since there was no legitimate reason for the ban, the government couldn’t continue with it, fearing how they will justify,” he says.

	The administration confirmed that the ban was imposed fearing threat to law and order in the district due to the gathering of thousands. “Though they were protesting peacefully the initial ten days at the mahapadav, they had planned to block the district collectorate on September 11 in thousands. To restrict their movement, internet was suspended in Sikar. During such situations, no one writes positive about the administration. We didn’t want to provide them a platform for spreading rumours that could have made the protestors violent. If there had been no internet ban that day, something big would have happened,” Jai Prakash Narayan, additional district collector and additional district magistrate, told 101reporters. “Broadband was made working during the internet ban so that the private and government offices were not affected. While giving order for internet ban, it is made sure that normal call and broadband facilities are not debarred. General masses are affected but internet shutdown is the only option we have,” he added. “While their blockade continued for three days, we restricted internet services only for first 24 hours as the protest had gained stability till then.” Even three months after the high-powered ministerial committee was formed to look into the farmers’ demand, nothing has been done. Now, they plan to stage a protest in February 2018 when the state assembly will be in function. Former CPI(M) MLA Pema Ram says, “Preparation for February protest has already begun. Kisan Sansads are being organised in Sikar, where active farmers from each village participate to raise demands regarding implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission report, a solution to the menace of stray cattle, complete farm loan waiver and pension for farmers. They then discuss it with other farmers in their villages.”

The administration confirmed that the ban was imposed fearing threat to law and order in the district due to the gathering of thousands. “Though they were protesting peacefully the initial ten days at the mahapadav, they had planned to block the district collectorate on September 11 in thousands. To restrict their movement, internet was suspended in Sikar. During such situations, no one writes positive about the administration. We didn’t want to provide them a platform for spreading rumours that could have made the protestors violent. If there had been no internet ban that day, something big would have happened,” Jai Prakash Narayan, additional district collector and additional district magistrate, told 101reporters.

“Broadband was made working during the internet ban so that the private and government offices were not affected. While giving order for internet ban, it is made sure that normal call and broadband facilities are not debarred. General masses are affected but internet shutdown is the only option we have,” he added. “While their blockade continued for three days, we restricted internet services only for first 24 hours as the protest had gained stability till then.”

Even three months after the high-powered ministerial committee was formed to look into the farmers’ demand, nothing has been done. Now, they plan to stage a protest in February 2018 when the state assembly will be in function.

Former CPI(M) MLA Pema Ram says, “Preparation for February protest has already begun. Kisan Sansads are being organised in Sikar, where active farmers from each village participate to raise demands regarding implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission report, a solution to the menace of stray cattle, complete farm loan waiver and pension for farmers. They then discuss it with other farmers in their villages.”

Pictures above: Apart from local news websites, local Facebook pages - Sikar Aapno, Sikar Sandesh, We love CPIM- Dhod and CPIM Sikar, etc. - were giving minute-by-minute updates of the farmers' protest. Pictures courtesy: Shruti Jain

(Shruti Jain is a Jaipur-based journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/mobile-net-ban-during-peaceful-protest-leaves-farmers-confused

Internet Shutdown Stories

Ambika Tandon — 2018-05-17T10:45:20Z

A collection of stories of the impact of internet shutdowns on the lives of Indian citizens.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-shutdown-stories