J&K Govt Extends Ban on High-Speed 4G Internet Till 11 May

On Monday, the Jammu and Kashmir government decided to continue with only 2G data internet in the Union Territory till 11 May.

Srinagar| On Monday, the Jammu and Kashmir administration extended the ban on 4G mobile internet in the Union territory till May 11.

An order issued by the UT Home Department’s Principal Secretary Shaleen Kabra said the administration has decided to continue with only 2G data speed on post-paid SIM cards. These services shall not be accessible on pre-paid SIM cards unless verified as per the norms applicable for postpaid connections.

The order said, there will be no speed constraints on the internet through landline broadband and the fixed-line connectivity shall be available with Mac binding, effective from 28 April till 11 May.

As per News18, the order also refers to a spurt in terrorist activities.”The field agencies have well-founded apprehensions of enhanced effort by Pakistan for recruitment in terrorists’ ranks as well as infiltration endeavours, which massively depend on high-speed internet,” the report quotes the govt as saying.

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“Whereas the misuse of data services by anti-national elements has the potential to scale up violent activities and disturb public order, which has till now been maintained due to gradual easing of restrictions on access to the internet while ensuring the rights and interests of the citizens are not affected adversely,’’ the Indian Express report quotes Kabra as saying.

Over the last few weeks, several clashes have taken place between militants and government forces with fatalities on both sides.

A complete communication blackout was imposed on Jammu & Kashmir after dividing the state into two UTs and abrogating Article 379 on August 4 last year.