After a clampdown spreading over the Kashmir valley for more than 100 days marking the suspension of necessary communication facilities and internet connectivity, discussions about restoration have revived. The Government has initiated to restore internet connections, but only after the companies sign a bond which says the use of internet connectivity, will only be for ‘business purposes’. Furthermore, the condition that is attached to the restoration of the internet asks ‘sharing all the content and infrastructure’. This is for all content and infrastructure related to the internet as and when required by the said security agencies. Therefore, the restoration comes at the cost of a bond between the providing companies and the state administration. As per a copy of the bond accessed by The Wire, it consists of a total of six points. It also states the providers should not allow for the uploading of any encrypted file containing videos or photos.
Moreover, the bond provides that the connectivity should only be made available to the IP addresses on the allowed list. It says, there should be no access to social networking, proxies, VPNs and WiFi. The network enabling internet access in the region also requires for all USB ports to be disabled on the system catching signal, regulated by the state on the other end.
Internet Provider to be made responsible in case of any breach.
The bond obliges the companies providing for the internet. The state administration authorities have also mentioned that the responsibility will be on the company, if there is any breach of misuse of the internet, beyond what is being permitted. Initially, the lines of communication and internet connectivity were snapped because of the historic announcement made on August 05, 2019. The Centre abrogated Article 370, revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and splitting it into two union territories. It was said, the same is being done to ‘prevent any law and order situation’ in the country. In what can be seen as a phase-wise implementation, the Government restored only the post-paid mobile services in Kashmir on October 12, while the internet connectivity remained suspended for the ordinary people there. In a smart move of the Government, as per sources in a report of The Wire, that at least 100 internet connections have been restored spread over hotels, guest houses, travel agencies and other government offices in the past one week.
Government department to submit an undertaking for the restoration of internet services:
On an earlier occasion, a similar bond or agreement was put forth before the head of the government department for restoration and use of the internet. In that case, the head of the department would have been made responsible in case of any breach or misuse. The connection for government departments was only restored after the authorities were assured that the use of the connection would only be done for official purposes, within the said permissible limit. The office looking after clearance for the restoration of internet connection is that of the inspector general of police [IGP]
“Whoever was allowed to use these services was asked to sign a bond taking responsibility that there will be no misuse of the facility,” sources of The Wire said. “Some of the connections of bureaucrats have also been restored.”
After the government departments signed the said bond and after having fulfilled all requirement, the divisional commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Khan, acknowledged that internet had been restored in some places and also informed that all connection is being monitored.
After the government departments, the restorations will be offered to the travel and hospitality sector businesses. In using the internet, they have been barred from engaging themselves in any promotional campaigns unless internet services are fully restored. The travel businesses have shown a willingness to sign the bond and use the internet in return. They have said the use would be limited to sending tour ternaries and financial transactions. They have urged the Government to ease the restrictions on the internet else the business, especially the tourism sector, will ‘be doomed’. They have expressed anguish saying that the lifting up of the travel advisory served no right when there is no means to communicate with the clients. They demand at least a relaxation on the gag on broadband services. They added that no one would choose to visit the Valley, given the communication restrictions, further deploring their business.
Terms and Conditions for the Government Departments
Earlier, the government departments were asked to submit an undertaking to the Jammu and Kashmir police for seeking a restoration of the internet facilities. It has now become imperative to access the internet to carry out day to day functioning of the Government. The work culture, business and economy in the Valley has been severely hit by the said clampdown. The compromise of restoration based on an undertaking had also seen the light, when a senior official of the field department took up the matter with their respective administrative heads at the highest seat of governance in J&K, the civil secretariat. An official said,
“It was finally agreed that the head of each department/office would have to submit an undertaking to police that the internet service will not be misused,”
The undertaking is to be submitted by the head of the department or head of any office, with his initials. The head has to agree to a list of Dos and don’ts as outlined. It is being said that the police of the region have drafted the outline. The many conditions in the undertaking are that it will only be used for business or official purposes, no social networking, proxies, VPNs, and activity through the WiFi. Similar to the bond presented to the communication providers, the undertaking also has a clause which says that uploading an encrypted file shall not be permitted. It has been informed that the service being provided after submitting of an undertaking, is through a dedicated leased line, typically run on fibre optic cables.
Moreover, the direction has been issued to all offices to ensure that the internet is protected through a MAC system so that any breach or violation of the undertaking and internet usage is restricted to the devices connected to a single PC.