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| Govt may keep High Speed Internet in suspension mode | | Authorities apprehend militants may use services to carry out terror activities using VPNs | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 11: The Jammu and Kashmir government is mulling to continue the ban on High speed internet services in Kashmir Valley even after February 14- when the order on Internet restoration in the Valley is set be reviewed by the department of Home Affairs, Jammu and Kashmir.
As per the reports, the government is not keen to restore high speed 4G internet in Kashmir Valley after February 14, this year and the authorities are likely to continue allow the low speed or 2G internet functional in Kashmir.
Reports inform that there have been numerous inputs about militants using internet through VPN and operate social networking sites which otherwise were blocked in toto by the government while lifting the ban on internet in Kashmir.
The government in its recent review order stated that the ban on high speed internet in Kashmir valley will continue as there have been instances of militants using the internet for carrying out their activities while using the VPN. In the present week, the authorities had to suspend 2G internet twice in Valley due to the anniversaries of Afzal Guru on February 9 and of Maqbool Bhat on February 11.
Broadband internet and 4G mobile data services continued to remain suspended in Kashmir from last six months. The services were suspended on the day when the central government abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir (Article 370) and bifurcated the erstwhile State into two Union Territories.
On February 7, the order said the government reviewed the restrictions on mobile data services with regard to its impact on the overall security situation and after due consideration of reports of law enforcement agencies, which have, among other things, brought out the usage of the internet for carrying out terror activities at various places as well as use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) for this purpose despite measures taken by the telecom service providers (TSP).
The order referred to the recent encounter at Ban Toll Plaza in the Nagrota area of Jammu; grenade attack in Pratap Park, Srinagar and a gunfight near Shalteng on Srinagar-Baramulla National Highway.
While three Jaish-e-Mohd militants were killed and three overground workers arrested when security forces intercepted a Kashmir-bound truck at Nagrota on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, eight persons including two CRPF jawans were injured in the grenade attack in Srinagar. Two terrorists were killed and another arrested near Shalteng when they were intercepted by security forces while moving towards Srinagar.
The 2G internet facility on mobile phones was restored for a week in Jammu and Kashmir on 25 January after remaining suspended since August 5 last year when the Centre announced nullification of Article 370 of the Constitution applicable to the erstwhile state and also bifurcated it into union territories -- Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.
It was reviewed on January 31 and was extended for another week, which was ending on February 7. The next review order is likely to be issued on February 14 in which chances are high that the high speed internet is likely to remain in suspension mode in Kashmir valley.
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