The Centre for Internet and Society
http://editors.cis-india.org
These are the search results for the query, showing results 21 to 25.
Business Woes from Saharanpur's Internet Ban
http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/business-woes-from-saharanpurs-internet-ban
<b>Strap: Three businessmen reveal the price they paid</b>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Saharanpur</b>: The violence between groups of Thakurs and Dalits that engulfed Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh between April and June 2017 continues to haunt its residents. The UP administration had ordered an internet shutdown<a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/saharanpur-after-10-days-internet-services-return-violence-hit-district-4687939"> </a><a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/saharanpur-after-10-days-internet-services-return-violence-hit-district-4687939">for 10 days</a>, reportedly to prevent the spread of rumours that had erupted after another caste clash on May 23 in Shabbirpur.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Those running businesses in Saharanpur say they were affected in unexpected ways. They struggled to make regular transactions and incurred losses they haven't yet recovered from.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Forty-eight-year-old Rajkumar Jatav has been manufacturing ladies' shoes for 25 years in Saharanpur town. Helped by his sons Sushant and Rajkkumar, he runs a small-scale factory which employs 15 workers who make flat slippers, sandals, heeled shoes and <i>joothis </i>for the local market. Jatav says he suffered a loss of about Rs 1.25 lakh ($2000) during the 10-day internet shutdown.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">"I did not get raw materials like paste solutions, synthetic leather, heels and sequins from my suppliers based in Kanpur and Agra when I failed to pay them the 50% advance through online transfer," says Jatav. "The situation outside the town was also tense. So there was no chance I could go or send someone to the banks either."</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Jatav had started using the digital payment system only after demonetisation. "I started doing online payments after November 8, 2016, after I faced a lot of problems with cash availability during that time. Internet payments came as a boon for me and also for my suppliers," he says. But within six months of getting used to online transactions, Jatav faced this new hurdle: an internet shutdown. "To complete the shoe order, we have to invest from our pocket first, but when I couldn't, my suppliers refused to send me the material, which meant I could not complete a big order," he says. He calculates that the cancelled order cost him Rs 2 lakhs. In addition, a few of Jatav's reliable and talented shoe workers quit because he was unable to pay their wages on time.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Jatav's annual business turnover is around Rs 24 lakh (Rs 200,000 a month), and he gets his raw material from the markets of New Delhi, Bareilly and Agra. "I even tried to give my suppliers an account payee cheque but they declined it saying that it will take a lot of time to clear. I requested them again and again but to no use. For a supplier there are thousands of Rajkumar Jatavs. I am no special client to get the raw materials on credit," he says. Jatav admits that he is not prepared for another shutdown, and he would not be able to run his business if it happened again.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Many traders in Saharanpur city say narrate similar experiences. In May, a family business of trading edible oil wholesale saw its most unfamiliar financial challenge yet. It had been only three years since Shailendra Bhushan Gupta had taken over his elder brother's 26-year-old store. Gupta started to expand and diversify too, by launching an agency to trade the Fortune brand of oils. He employs five people, and his monthly turnover ranges between Rs 30-40 lakhs ($46,600-62,200). The 40-year-old also modernised some of the business practices, shifting much of the payments to suppliers online, for speed and ease of use.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">During the internet shutdown in Saharanpur, Gupta did not expect to be affected, given the stability of his store and the large sale volume of his agency. But unexpectedly, his supplying company cancelled his order of 1000 litres of oil when he could not make the payment. "As per the agreement, I have to deposit at least 50% of the order amount in advance, and the rest of the payment is made when the oil is delivered to us. But during those 10 days, I could not make payment through any means, and my order was declined by the supplying company," he says. Gupta also tried to make the payment through RTGS but couldn't do that. The oil trader says that he ended up suffering a jolt of Rs 18 lakhs ($28,000).</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Gupta is slowly trying to make up for the monetary loss and credit worthiness with his suppliers. "How can an internet shutdown be a solution for anything?" he asks. "I seriously don't know what to do if it happens again."</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">A property dealer in same central market faced a direct hit during the internet ban. Ashok Pundeer, who has been selling and renting commercial and residential properties for the past five years, estimates that he suffered a loss of Rs 22 lakhs ($34,200) during the internet shutdown as he could not get many properties registered in that period. "I had to return the token money to many buyers because there was no internet," he says. "All of us know that registry (property) and documentation is now done online in Uttar Pradesh. The clients were new and they refused to take the deal forward."</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">A property dealer is not easily trusted, admits Pundeer. This means he is paid only after the deal is done, and a lot of word-of-mouth business depends on his image and credibility. Every lost client is a potential loss of more. "It's not just me, but many dealers have incurred huge losses due to shutdown," says Pundeer. "<i>Koi ration ki dukaan to hai nahi property dealing. Jo kuch hona hai online hi hona hai. Ab kya batayein, dekha jayega jo hona hoga</i>," he throws his hand up in frustration, saying the real estate business is no grocery shop, and if there's no access to online transactions, then very little can be done.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Trying to keep an optimistic outlook, Pundeer says, "<i>Jitna kuan khodo, utna paani milega</i>". For his business to recover, he will have to double down with more focus and effort.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><i>(With inputs from Saurabh Sharma)</i></p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><i> </i></p>
<p class="callout" style="text-align: justify; ">Mahesh Kumar Shiva is a Saharanpur-based journalist and a member of <a href="https://101reporters.com/">101Reporters.com</a>, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters. has been reporting for 23 years on crime, healthcare, society, politics, culture, sports, agriculture and tourism in his city. He has previously worked with publications like Dainik Janwani, Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujala, Ajit Samachar and more.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.</p>
<hr />
<h3>Video</h3>
<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/248324204" width="640"></iframe></p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f469fb0d-a270-1615-6db4-c70d977625db">Rajkumar Jatav talks about the challenges his shoe manufacturing business faced during the shutdown. Video Courtesy: Mahesh Kumar Shiva</span></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/business-woes-from-saharanpurs-internet-ban'>http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/business-woes-from-saharanpurs-internet-ban</a>
</p>
No publisherMahesh Kumar ShivaInternet ShutdownInternet Governance2017-12-29T13:24:35ZBlog EntryOnline or Offline, Protest Goes On
http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/online-or-offline-protest-goes-on
<b>Strap: Kashmiris say internet blockades have no effect on uprisings</b>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Srinagar, J&K: </b>Ahead of the Srinagar parliamentary by-polls held on 9 April 2017, the Jammu & Kashmir state government suspended mobile data services to prevent protests around the election. The constituency went to polls with strict restrictions on movement, and with no access to mobile internet. As soon as the electoral staff reached their respective polling booths, however, there <i>were </i>protests. People at dozens of locations in central Kashmir’s Budgam district began to gather to demonstrate against the central and state governments, which they believed had not safeguarded Kashmiri interests.</p>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/JKStonepelters1.png" alt="JK Stonepelters 1" class="image-inline" title="JK Stonepelters 1" /><br /><span class="discreet">Faizan, a 12-year-old schoolboy, was killed in the Dalwan shooting</span></td>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/JKStonepelters2.png" alt="JK Stonepelters 2" class="image-inline" title="JK Stonepelters 2" /><br /><span class="discreet">Abbas, 21, was one of the victims of the shooting in Dalwan</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="discreet"><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/JKStonepelters3.png" alt="JK Stonepelters 3" class="image-inline" title="JK Stonepelters 3" /><br />Abbas’ home in Dalwan</span></td>
<td><span class="discreet"><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/JKStonepelters4.png" alt="JK Stonepelters 4" class="image-inline" title="JK Stonepelters 4" /><br />The school in Dalwan where the shooting occurred</span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><i>Picture Courtesy: Junaid Nabi Bazaz</i></p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">In Dalwan village, a picture-postcard village atop a hill 35 kms from Budgam town, no votes were cast: the officers fled the polling station, and the paramilitary forces and police shot at protesters. Two people – a 21-year-old son of a policeman and a 12-year-old schoolboy – died on the spot.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">People of Dalwan have been voting in droves in every parliamentary, legislative and local body election, even on occasions where much of Kashmir boycotted polls. But in April, residents said they were fed up with legislators not working to ensure uninterrupted power, water supply, concrete roads, or even a permanent doctor at its only dispensary. So, a village that has never demonstrated or produced any militants in the last 30 years of uprisings in the Kashmir Valley erupted in protest that election day. Now, the cemetery in which the two killed civilians are buried has been renamed as Martyr’s Graveyard.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Bazil Ahmad, a resident of Dalwan, says that nothing could have prevented the protests that day. “We protested against state, it was a spontaneous response,” says 22-year-old Ahmad who threw his first stones that day. “If the government believes that an internet blockade could prevent protests, they’re living in a fool’s paradise.” He sees the internet only as a free platform to express his anger and disappointment. “The actual trigger for the anger comes from the denial of rights and state aggression, not because of the internet,” says Ahmad.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">As the news about the killings spread to neighbouring villages word-of-mouth, residents there too protested. Journalists in these villages updated their newsrooms. In a few days, all newspapers in Kashmir carried the news of eight deaths, scores of injuries, and the appalling 6.5% voter turnout in Budgam and Ganderbal districts.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">After the ban was lifted, videos captured on polling day were posted on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. One of them was a video of Farooq Dar, a voter returning from the polling booth, tied to the front bumper of a military vehicle as it patrolled villages. A paper with his name was tied to his chest, and a soldier announced on the loudspeaker, “Look at the fate of the stonepelter.” The video created an uproar internationally. The armed forces were accused of using a civilian as “a human shield”, pushing it to hold an inquiry, and the police to lodge an FIR.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">After these videos emerged, the government on April 26 officially banned 22 social media sites and apps, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, for over a month. Once again, it seemed to have little effect on the protests – and protestors.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Sajad, who has been throwing stones for the past eight years at the armed forces, says, “The government is miscalculating the use of internet and the occurrence of protests.” The 28-year-old refers to the protests using the Kashmiri phrase <i>kani jung</i>, loosely translated as ‘stone battle’, which to him conveys a revolutionary zeal. Youths like Sajad who participate in the protests insist that they are provoked each time by an instance of human rights violation that exacerbates the long experience of militarisation, aspiration for “azadi”, and conflict in Kashmir. Internet shutdowns do nothing to erase this trigger, he says, and sometimes heighten their anger.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">In just 2017, there have been 27 internet or social media bans in J&K, according to<a href="http://internetshutdowns.in/"> </a><a href="http://internetshutdowns.in/">internetshutdowns.in</a>. In the absence of evidence or study about its effects, it’s unclear if these blockades curb the spread of misinformation at all, or prevent the mobilisation of people for protests. For instance, on 15 April 2017, students from Degree College in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district protested against the armed forces for firing teargas and beating them. Though there was an internet ban in place, the incident went live on Facebook. It led to more student protests across the state. Schools, colleges and universities had to be closed for weeks.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Due to the frequency of blockades, several Kashmiris, including ministers, bureaucrats, civilians, protesters and police officers, have found a way out: they have turned to VPNs (Virtual Private Networks).</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">A VPN allows users to remain secure online and also enables them to access content or websites that are otherwise blocked. Sajad says, "A selective ban on the internet does not help, because we use VPNs. A person gains access to a network, and everyone in the area finds out how. Let the government block everything, it won’t stop protests.” To illustrate his point, Sajad gives the example of uprisings in the summer of 2016, during which internet, pre-paid and post-paid connections were shut for months. “Were there not protests?” he asks. “Kashmir was resisting Indian forces even before the internet existed, so why would it be difficult for us to use the same means now?”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Gulzar, a 30-year-old who has joined protests since he was 15, says the internet is more often used to disseminate information about the injustice, and not to organise protests. “A guy from Srinagar will only protest in Srinagar, and not go to other places. So, it is not too difficult to find out where protests are going on,” says Gulzar.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">A DSP-rank police officer in the cyber crime cell of the J&K Police, on the condition of anonymity, says that bans have not yielded absolute results, but have been useful in preventing small-scale protests. He cited the example of district-level territorial internet blockades, done during gunfights between militants and the armed forces, to prevent immediate information sharing that may lead to the operation being compromised. “Say some militants are caught during an encounter in a village in Pulwama district. We block the internet as a precautionary measure in that area,” he says. “In case the district is violence-free, we reduce the bandwidth. That has now become the standard operating procedure.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The police officer adds that accustomed to the bans, people now record the protests and later post videos on social media once the ban is lifted. “So, in effect, what the internet ban achieved is neutralised as soon as the internet is back on,” he says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><i> </i></p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><i>Names changed to protect identity.</i></p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><i> </i></p>
<p class="callout" style="text-align: justify; "><b>J</b>unaid Nabi Bazaz is a Srinagar-based journalist and a member of <a href="https://101reporters.com/">101Reporters.com</a>, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters. He has been working as a journalist in Kashmir since 2010. He has covered human rights, economy, administration, crime and health over these years. He has also written for contributoria.com, an independent division of The Guardian.</p>
<hr />
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/online-or-offline-protest-goes-on'>http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/online-or-offline-protest-goes-on</a>
</p>
No publisherJunaid Nabi BazazInternet ShutdownInternet Governance2017-12-21T14:53:51ZBlog EntryAmid Unrest in the Valley, Students See a Dark Wall
http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/amid-unrest-in-the-valley-students-see-a-dark-wall
<b>Strap: Frequent, prolonged restrictions on internet have kept many from using the learning resource.</b>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Srinagar, J&K: </b>On November 18, Srinagar lost 3G and 4G connectivity after a militant and a sub-inspector of the Jammu & Kashmir police force were killed, and one militant caught alive in a<a href="http://www.uniindia.com/news/states/si-militant-killed-1-ultra-arrested-alive-in-srinagar/1050461.html"> </a><a href="http://www.uniindia.com/news/states/si-militant-killed-1-ultra-arrested-alive-in-srinagar/1050461.html">brief encounter</a> on the outskirts of the city, near Zakoora crossing. District authorities said data connectivity was snapped to “maintain law and order”.</p>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/JKEducation1.png/@@images/77d075bb-5b8f-4f93-81ad-1f6e9a56f35c.png" alt="JK Education 1" class="image-inline" title="JK Education 1" /></th><th><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_JKEducation2.png" alt="JKEducation2" class="image-inline" title="JKEducation2" /></th><th><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/JKEducation3.png" alt="JK Education 3" class="image-inline" title="JK Education 3" /></th><th style="text-align: center; "><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/JKEducation4.png" alt="JK Education 4" class="image-inline" title="JK Education 4" /><br /></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: center; "><span class="discreet">Students in Srinagar’s SPS Library. Picture Courtesy: Aakash Hassan </span></p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">But to Jasif Ayoub, an aspiring chartered accountant, it seemed like an obstruction to his exam preparations. Not being able to access lectures and texts online, Ayoub was perturbed. He had moved from Anantnag in south Kashmir, to Srinagar, only to have an easy access to the vast pool of information on the world wide web. “My hometown witnesses internet shutdowns very frequently. That is why I moved to live with relatives in Srinagar to prepare for my exams. But the internet speed here too is getting worse by the day,” says Ayoub.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The internet is usually the first administrative casualty when any law & order situation arises in the Kashmir Valley, which has been restive and agitated over the last two decades. Despite the frequency of shutdowns, the state still does not issue a prior warning, or offer emergency connectivity measures. Residents know the pattern now: the mobile internet and SMS are the first to go down, and then broadband and other lease-line service providers follow.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">J&K tops the list of Indian states that have witnessed most number of internet shutdowns, with 27 being the count from 2012 to 2017, according to <a href="https://internetshutdowns.in/"><i>internetshutdowns.in</i></a>, run by Software Freedom Law Centre<i>. </i>There has been a sharp rise in the curbs on internet imposed this year, with over 30 shutdowns until November 22. Government authorities who issue and implement these bans say it is the only way to undercut the strength of social media in organising movements and resistance. The prime example is<a href="http://kashmirdispatch.com/2016/07/24/11-burhan-funeral-pictures-which-you-missed-due-to-internet-clampdown/144891/"> </a><a href="http://kashmirdispatch.com/2016/07/24/11-burhan-funeral-pictures-which-you-missed-due-to-internet-clampdown/144891/">Burhan Wani</a>, the 21-year-old Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander who had used his Facebook account to<a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/the-virtual-world-hizb-ul-mujahideens-burhan-wani-innovates-to-influence-youth-in-kashmir-2794392.html"> </a><a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/the-virtual-world-hizb-ul-mujahideens-burhan-wani-innovates-to-influence-youth-in-kashmir-2794392.html">popularise</a> and justify militant resistance. Wani’s death saw protests erupting across the Valley, which made the state snap internet services for about<a href="https://scroll.in/latest/827906/prepaid-mobile-internet-services-restored-in-kashmir-after-six-months"> </a><a href="https://scroll.in/latest/827906/prepaid-mobile-internet-services-restored-in-kashmir-after-six-months">six months</a> on prepaid mobile networks. For four months, there was no internet access on postpaid mobile networks too. These have been the longest intervals of ban. However, day-long, hour-long and even week-long periods of non-connectivity are alarmingly common.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The incessant disruption of internet services prevents students from accessing online education resources. Class IX student Haiba Jaan in Srinagar depends on lectures from Khan Academy, an online coaching centre, to clarify a lot of concepts. A resident of Hyderpora in Srinagar, Haiba points to the i-Pad in her hand. “This is the best way of learning," she says. "I was not satisfied with my teachers in school or tuition classes. I found studying on the internet quite useful. But, the problem with that is the regular internet shutdowns." Her parents got a postpaid broadband connection the previous year to help Haiba. "But even that gives up many times during total internet shutdowns," says Haiba.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">In May this year, the government suspended the use of 22 social media and messaging platforms in Kashmir for a month. Skype was one of the messaging services banned. This put Mehraj Din through great trouble. Shortlisted for a summer programme at Istanbul, Turkey, this scholar of Islamic Studies at Kashmir University, had to appear for the final interview via Skype. "The ban could have ended all my chances to get selected had the organisers not agreed to an audio interview considering the ground situation here," says Mehraj, who is currently compiling his dissertation for the university. "I have a deadline to meet, but repeated shutdowns have affected my work," he says. "This a punishment from the State."</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Full libraries, half studies</b></p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">When home and mobile internet connections are snapped, the state government's e-learning initiative in public libraries provides some respite. Mehrosha Rasool wants to secure an MBBS seat through the NEET competitive exam. She visits the SPS library in Srinagar religiously to access the study material that has been downloaded and made available on computers. The 17-year-old resident of Nishat in Srinagar says libraries are useful since one never knows how long the internet services at home will stay stable. Irshad Ahmad, another student utilising the facilities at SPS library, says he moved to Srinagar from Pattan town of north Kashmir because "this facility of accessing education material is not available at the library in my tehsil."</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Most prominent libraries in Srinagar have computers and tablets for students’ access, "But the rooms often become overcrowded as hundreds of students have registered at the libraries for internet facilities," says Mehrosha.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Schools in the Valley, meanwhile, rely on traditional means in the absence of the e-learning systems. Javaid Ahmad Wani, a political science teacher from south Kashmir’s Anantnag, believes that with little time in the year to even complete the basic syllabus thanks to frequent and sudden school closures during periods of unrest, supplementary e-learning is a distant possibility. Even when teachers and students do have access to these resources to stay updated, internet shutdowns make them unreliable. Therefore, teachers and schools stick to conventional means. Javaid admits that he has himself lost opportunities to an internet shutdown. “I could not submit the form for the main exam of the J&K public service last year because there was no Internet,” he says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Curbs pinch civil service aspirants</b></p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Many among the civil service aspirants are dependent on the internet for preparations. Anees Malik, a resident of Shopian, is preparing for the civil service exams. "I cannot afford coaching, so I rely on the internet," he says, especially for mock exams and previous question papers. "In such a situation, losing connectivity almost every other week is the worst thing to happen.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Sakib Wani, a Kupwara resident who is currently studying chemistry in Uttarakhand, notices a marked indifference in Kashmir to using online resources. "Those applying for scholarships and pursuing higher education may be using it but not to the extent that students in other states of India do it,” Sakib says. He believes that the repeated internet ban could be a possible reason for students to not opt for online educational resources. With colleges and schools shut for weeks during conflict periods, the internet could have been a great way to continue education formally and personally, but the repeated shutdowns have closed that door of opportunity too.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Aakash Hassan is a Srinagar-based freelance writer and a member of <a href="http://www.101reporters.com/">101Reporters.com</a>, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters. He has reported on conflict, environment, health and other issues for different publications across India.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/amid-unrest-in-the-valley-students-see-a-dark-wall'>http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/amid-unrest-in-the-valley-students-see-a-dark-wall</a>
</p>
No publisherAakash HassanInternet ShutdownInternet Governance2017-12-21T14:07:46ZBlog EntryDigital Banking Dreams: Interrupted
http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/digital-banking-dreams-interrupted
<b>Strap: Internet shutdowns drag banks in J&K far behind.</b>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Srinagar, J&K:</b> Inside a buzzing branch of the Jammu & Kashmir Bank in Srinagar, 27-year-old Falak Akhtar is busy processing routine transactions. A member of the technical team, this young banker says that almost half of the branch's customers have registered their accounts with the M-Pay mobile app. However, the application built for convenience is not always dependable. As she attends to the rush of customers inside the branch, Falak reminds us that whenever there is an internet shutdown, the app is of no use. “The customers have to resort to traditional banking.” she says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Every day, Falak’s branch executes 53% of its transactions online. “If the customers do online transactions, the cost per transaction for the bank is only Rs 7. But every time an internet ban is enforced in Kashmir, the cost of each transaction goes up to Rs 54,” she says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Given that internet shutdowns in Kashmir are usually accompanied by an imposition of a physical curfew, simply going to the bank can be impossible. Ironically, it is during political tensions that Kashmiris, stuck indoors due to curfew or avoiding the streets to keep safe, need internet banking the most.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Zahid Maqbool, an information officer with the J&K government, uses the J&K Bank’s mobile app regularly to transfer money or do transactions. “But last year, when my brother studying outside the state needed money, I couldn’t use the app because of the internet ban,” he says. “During the tense situation and curfew, I took a huge risk to reach to the branch in Tral, where only two employees were present." It took him around three hours to transfer Rs 12,000 ($185) to his brother’s account "because the bank’s internet line was also running very slow”.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Showkat (name changed), manager of an ICICI Bank branch in Srinagar, says they use internet facilities of BSNL and Airtel during normal days. “Our branch has 20,000 customers, and around 40% of them use digital banking through an app called I-Mobile,” he says. Last year, as Kashmir plunged into a six-month-long political unrest after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, internet was snapped immediately and remained suspended for several months. The bank was not able to do online transactions throughout the summer. “And whenever there was a relaxation in curfew or strike, there used to be a huge rush of customers in the branch,” Showkat says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“Whenever an internet ban is on in Kashmir, we suffer huge losses because we don’t manage to get new account holders,” says Showkat. “Since we run most of our operations online, the ban blocks the account holder from accessing the net and uploading scanned ID proofs.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">On an average, his branch opens 100 accounts per month. “But last year, amid the internet ban, we managed to open only 40 accounts in six months,” he says. For processing these account opening applications, the bank had to courier the forms to Chandigarh, the bank's nerve centre in North India. Account openings take 24 hours online, but here, the forms took six days to reach Chandigarh, after which it took another 8 days to process it.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">To overcome hurdles faced during last year’s internet gag, the bank used the Indian Army’s VSAT network on lease. Showkat says such a line can be used for commercial purposes after clearance from the Army and a payment of Rs 15,000 per month. "Our ATMs were connected through that lease line," he says. "But the problem was that the gag had slowed down the VSAT as well.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The slow-speed internet hampered cash withdrawals from ATMs, which created quite a furore. “The already frustrated customers started shouting that the bank employees were cheats, that we were irresponsible. It is very difficult to make them understand the technical aspects of it,” he says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Although banks suffer during frequent internet gags, their plight is often overshadowed by the bigger political crisis in Kashmir. What's clear is that disrupted banking, fee payments, purchases and withdrawals, all severely cripple the everyday life of Kashmiris.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">In 2016, angry customers, barred from e-banking due to internet clampdown, thronged banks after months, demanding they be given some respite on EMIs (monthly loan repayments) and other banking schemes. An official from the branch of a nationalised bank outside Srinagar says that when they refused to entertain such requests on procedural grounds, the customers entered into heated exchanges.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Showkat says that customers who had taken loans were neither able to repay the installments online, nor were they able to visit the branch because of unrest. “These customers then end up having to bear the high interest rate, and some of them had to face penalties.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Mudasir Ahmad, the owner of a Kashmir Art Emporium in Central Kashmir’s Budgam, says that he had borrowed a loan of Rs 40 lakh ($62,400) from J&K Bank as capital for his handicraft business, but he had missed seven loan instalments last summer due to the internet clampdown. “I usually pay my loan installments through e-banking. Last year, when the internet was not working, I had to visit the bank to repay it. There are such long queues. It took me a whole day last year to pay one installment, which I otherwise pay within minutes through e-banking.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Digital banking was introduced in Kashmir few years ago in an effort to reduce footfall in banks and increase online transactions. Online banking done through cards and apps was hailed as a step towards cashless economy. Abdul Rashid, a relationship executive of a State Bank of India branch in Srinagar, says, “But because of the internet gag at most times, we are not able to be a part of it."</p>
<p class="callout" style="text-align: justify; ">Safeena Wani is an independent journalist from Kashmir. Her work has appeared in Al-Jazeera, Kashmir Reader and other regional publications. She is a member of <b><i> </i></b><a href="http://www.101reporters.com/">101Reporters.com</a>, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.</p>
<hr />
<p>Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/digital-banking-dreams-interrupted'>http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/digital-banking-dreams-interrupted</a>
</p>
No publisherSafeena WaniInternet ShutdownInternet Governance2017-12-19T15:24:07ZBlog EntryIt Hurts Them Too
http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/it-hurts-them-too
<b>Strap: Internet shutdown robs security forces' social media lifeline in J&K.</b>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Srinagar, J&K:</b> For Mahender*, a member of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) posted in Srinagar for the last two years, the internet has been a way to feel virtually close to his children and wife in Bihar, nearly 1,900 kms away. After duty every day, he finds a quiet corner to start video-calling his wife. At the other end, she ensures their two children are beside her. “We discuss how our day went. Most of our conversations revolve around the kids, their schooling and food, and about my parents who live near our house,” says Mahender, who identified himself only with his first name.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">However, Mahender and thousands of security personnel like him posted in the Kashmir Valley haven't found this easy connectivity always reliable, courtesy the government's frequent internet shutdowns, phone data connectivity cuts, and social media bans.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Jammu & Kashmir has faced 55 internet shutdowns between 2012 and 2017, as recorded by the Software Freedom Law Centre. The administration justifies this crackdown by citing "law-and-order situations" that occur during encounters of security forces with militants and, later, when protests and marches are carried out by civilians during militants' funerals.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed by security forces and police on 8 July 2016, triggering a six-month-long “uprising” among civilians in Kashmir. Immediately after the shootout, security agencies shut the internet down. With 55 internet shutdowns in 2017 itself, it is something of a standard practice in Kashmir today to block social media or internet in a district or entire Valley each time there is an encounter. It is also a recurring practice of precaution against protests on Independence and Republic Day every year.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Security forces and police are not untouched by these shutdowns though. There are 47 CRPF battalions posted in the Kashmir region. “Our jawans experience difficulties during internet bans as they are not able to communicate with their families and friends as frequently as they do when internet is working,” says Srinagar-based CRPF Public Relations Officer Rajesh Yadav.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The J&K police, who are at the forefront of quelling protests and maintaining law & order in the Valley with a strength of nearly 100,000, also suffer. There have been growing instances of clashes between the Kashmiri police and protesters who believe their home force is being brutal during crowd control. The policemen have had to hide or operate in plain clothes. A senior police officer in Srinagar, who does not want to be named, says, “Our families are worried about our well-being when we are dealing with frequent agitations. In such a situation, when there is a ban, we find it difficult to stay in touch with our families.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">More dangerously, internet bans also hit the official communication of cops in action. Their offices are equipped with BSNL landline connections, which are rarely shut down, and they usually communicate through wireless; but for mobile internet most of them depend on private internet service providers, owing to their better connectivity, as the rest of the state. A senior police officer who deals with counter-insurgency in Kashmir speaks of the impact of cutting off phone data connectivity. "We have our own WhatsApp groups for quick official communication. We use broadband in offices only and can’t take it to sites of counter-insurgency operations.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Yadav of the CRPF says, “While we have several effective means of communication for official purposes, social media is one that has accentuated our communication network. During internet bans, our work is not entirely hampered, but there is a little bit of pinch, since that speed and ease of working is not there.” Nevertheless, he defends the ban, insisting that Facebook and WhatsApp are handy tools for people to "flare up" the situation and "mobilise youths" during protests. "So, it becomes a compulsion for the administration to impose the ban."</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Counter-insurgency forces have in the last few years created social media monitoring and surveillance cells. They say it is to equally match the extremists, including those in Pakistan, who use social media services like Telegram, Facebook and WhatsApp now, instead of their phones which can be tapped. It is also to keep an eye on suspected rumour-mongers and propagandists. For instance, 22-year-old Burhan Wani had gained the attention of security forces precisely because of the way he used his huge following, amassed through Facebook posts and gun-toting pictures, to inspire young Kashmiris to militancy.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“There is always monitoring and surveillance. If militants are using it, then they are within the loop,” says Yadav.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">There is widespread public outrage against the state government and agencies who impose frequent net bans in Kashmir, but the CRPF official says it hampers their attempts to build an image and do public relations in Kashmir too. “We promote and highlight programmes like Civic Action and Sadhbhavana online, and that's not possible when there's no social media.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">"The public's criticism of the ban is justified,” the counter-insurgency official says. But they are compelled to use it in situations like during the recent scare around braid chopping, which was caused due to “rumour-mongering by persons with vested interests”. Kashmiri civil society had suggested that the police keep the internet up to issue online clarifications trashing the rumours, but it was not to be.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">"The internet has made it possible to identify culprits while sitting in an office. But we have to shut it down in case of communal tensions which have the tendency to engulf the whole state,” says the senior cop. “When we have no option left, we go back to traditional human intelligence.” </p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><i>Name changed to protect identity.</i></p>
<p class="callout" style="text-align: justify; ">Mir Farhat is a journalist from Jammu & Kashmir, with an experience of reporting politics, conflict, environment, development and governance issues. His primary interests lie in reporting environment and development. He is a member of <a href="http://www.101reporters.com/">101Reporters.com</a>, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.</p>
<hr />
<p>Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/it-hurts-them-too'>http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/it-hurts-them-too</a>
</p>
No publisherMir FarhatInternet ShutdownInternet Governance2017-12-19T15:12:31ZBlog Entry