Yawar ahmad mir
(Student of computer applications)
Nowadays, Internet is listed in the basic needs of a human being. And in many countries internet is a fundamental right but some people are still far far away from internet. There are a large number of people who have never accessed the Internet. And some people are being restricted even after there exists the Internet access. Among those people are kashmiri's (people from kashmir).
Kashmir is the most militarised religion in the world and Internet restriction is so common in Kashmir that people live about 3 - 5 months without Internet every year.
But after the provocation of Article 370 and Article 35 A, the inernet services were completely shut. Not only the internet but the telephone, telecommunications, newspapers, cable services etc were also shut for almost a year. Whole kashmir was disconnected from the rest of the world. It seemed like the kashmir didn't even existed for the rest of the world and to kashmiris there was no other state or nation in existence. It was kind of blackout for kashmiri people.
After a year telecommunications were restored but no internet. Students, education sector, health sector, IT sector, local businesses were shut for more than a year and covid-19 came to this world which made it even more difficult for people to survive. After the covid deaths increased everyday the people started to ask the government to lift ban from Internet. And after months long struggle the internet was restored but still it was not enough. Because the speed of the Internet was so slow that a simple web pages used to take atleast 3-5 minutes to load apart from that only few listed websites (67 to be precise) were accessible by the people of kashmir. This struggle also continued for months and funally in 2021 the 4g services were fully restored in kashmir valley. It was a great moment for everyone. Although the struggle, the loss, the sufferings, no one remembered it, but the people of kashmir.
As a kashmiri, i know what it is like to be in a prison. cause the time i spent during the blackout, it was more like being in a prison.
May Allah almighty bless Kashmir with the joy of freedom, ameen.