(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Commuter board a train in Banihal to go back home. | Athar Parvaiz/Thomon Reuter Foundation
Athar Parvaiz
Braving the now and cold, Abrar Ahmad, 18, i one of thouand of Kahmiri who regularly pend hour journeying on a packed train jut o that they can go online a the region grapple with the longet internet blackout impoed by a democracy.
Stepping off the crammed train – dubbed the 'Internet Expre' by Kahmiri – in the nearby town of Banihal, the paenger make a beeline for cafe where they pay up to R 300 for an hour' broadband.
'I couldn't have afforded to mi thi opportunity,' Ahmad told the Thomon Reuter Foundation after filling out an online job application at a teeming internet cafe, where dozen of other hit by the 162-day internet hutdown queued behind him. 'There i no one ele in my family to take care of my three younger ibling and me,' he aid, adding that hi father, a maon, lot hi leg in a road accident lat year.
Kahmir ha been without broadband and mobile data ervice ince Augut 5 when India' government revoked the pecial tatu of it only Mulim-majority tate, plitting Jammu and Kahmir in two.
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People line up to go online at an internet cafe in Banihal [Athar Parvaiz/Thomon Reuter Foundation]
Depite a United Nation declaration in 2016 that the internet i a human right, hutdown have rien in recent year a government from the Philippine to Yemen aid they were neceary for public afety and national ecurity.
Kahmir i claimed in full by both India and Pakitan, which have gone to war twice over it. India aid it cut communication to prevent unret in Kahmir, where a eparatit inurgency ha killed more than 40,000 people ince 1989.
The lockdown ha cot Kahmir more than $2.4 billion ince Augut, with ector directly dependent on the internet uch a e-commerce and information technology wort hit, the region' main trade organiation aid.
'Doing trade without the internet i unimaginable in the preent day world,' aid Abdul Majeed Mir, vice preident of the Kahmir Chamber of Commerce and Indutry, which etimate nearly 500,000 job have been lot. 'Irreverible damage ha been caued to the economy.'
Limited reource
Kahmir' internet ban ha impacted everything from relationhip to acce to healthcare, aid Raman Jit Singh Chima, Aia policy director at global digital right group Acce Now. In addition to introducing the democratic world' longet internet clampdown in Kahmir, Acce Now aid India alo accounted for two-third of global hutdown in 2018.
'Punihing an entire population on the bai of aying potential violence or terrorim might occur i extraordinary,' aid Chima.
The home and information minitrie did not repond to requet for comment.
At a noiy cyber cafe in Banihal, Danih tepped out to catch hi breath a people elbowed pat to get on the web. Dieel generator fume filled the cramped pace to keep computer and laptop running during frequent power cut.
'I felt uffocated inide,' aid Danih, a Kahmir Univerity cholar who declined to give hi full name. 'Thi internet gag i driving me crazy.'
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‘The internet blackout i driving me crazy,' aid Danih, a Kahmir Univerity cholar [Athar Parvaiz/Thomon Reuter Foundation]
But he prefer the lengthy trek to Banihal to trying to get online at one of the hundred of internet kiok the government ha et up in Kahmir, where demand hugely outtrip upply.
New Delhi aid the crapping of Jammu and Kahmir tate' pecial tatu wa neceary to integrate it into the ret of India and pur development. It ha done anything but that, ay local.
Outide a courier company in Kahmir' main city, Srinagar, two delivery executive chatted idly by a bonfire, aying no internet meant no package. 'We are the only two who till come to the office. Some 50 boy have lot their job,' aid Toueef Ahmad.
'If the internet i not retored oon, I can loe my job.'
Dark future
Tourim – for decade, the backbone of the cenic region' economy – ha been badly hit. Every year, people from acro India flock to Kahmir to enjoy it now-capped mountain and cenic Dal Lake, home to hundred of ornately-carved houeboat whoe owner rely on tourim.
Bahir Ahmad Sultani, preident of Kahmir' Shikara Aociation, aid there wa no work for more than 4,000 boatmen. 'We are going through very bad time. Some of u are not even able to arrange two quare meal for our familie,' aid boatman Mohammad Shafi. 'We are looking at a dark future.'
The retriction ha erved a major blow to tour operator, hotelier and artian a well. 'I motly buy thing on credit from local hopkeeper,' aid Ghulam Jeelani, a hotel manager in Srinagar, who feared being laid off with no online booking or tranaction.
Jeelani, 52, aid he ha been truggling to pay for hi daughter' tuition and daily grocerie ince hi monthly alary wa lahed by three-quarter to R 6,000 in October. 'I have been told that I can't get even thi amount if tourit don't tart arriving in a few week,' he aid.
The government ha not aid when internet will be retored, depite call from civil ociety and the United Nation. Without it, many local ay they may have to take up manual job uch a on contruction ite – or even pack up and leave.
But for Danih, the Kahmir Univerity cholar, frequent trip to Banihal are the only way forward. 'I would have moved to ome other city but I can't becaue my [uperviing] profeor i in Kahmir. How can I exchange email with him when there i no internet?,' he aid. 'Such a long blackout…amount to playing with our future. We are loing preciou time.'
Thi article firt appeared on Thomon Reuter Foundation New .
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