WASHINGTON: An international media advocacy group — Reporters Without Borders – on Thursday condemned the Indian government’s indiscriminate disconnection of the internet in held Kashmir.

In a statement issued in Washington, the group noted that the Indian government kept the internet disconnected throughout Jammu and Kashmir from Sept 25 to 28, on the grounds of preventing any exacerbation of tension between the state’s Muslim and Hindu communities.

The suspension of internet services in Jammu and Kashmir “paralysed the work of journalists and media outlets, especially online media, and deprived the population of access to online information and communication”, the group said.

The ban was imposed at the start of Eidul Azha. A recent court order enforcing a ban on the slaughter of cows and the sale of beef has revived communal tension in the region.

“It is unacceptable that a government is able to take arbitrary decisions affecting access to information and the sharing of information throughout an entire region,” said Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk.

“By gagging journalists and internet users, who relay information about developments in the region and comment on them, the authorities are just increasing frustration and fuelling street violence.”

Published in Dawn October 9th, 2015

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