Officials reported that mobile Internet services in Kargil Ladakh district were restored more than 145 days after they had been disrupted by the Center’s revoking Article 370 of the Constitution. The termination took place exactly on 4th August in the initial days of the abrogation, together with the restriction of landline and mobile services. Due to the complete normality of their return to Kargil, the officers reported that no unexpected event took place over the last 4 months. Notably, Kargil already had broadband services in operation.

The officials said local religious figures had called on the public not to exploit the center.

While the reconstruction in Kargil was eventually carried out, in many sections of Jammu and Kashmir mobile internet connections remain inaccessible. In 2019, 105 Internet shutdowns were recorded in India according to the track records available on InternetShutdowns.in.

The latest suspension was observed in various areas of western Ottar Pradesh, including Bijnor, Bulandshahar, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Agra and Firozabad on Thursday when government blocked the connection to the Internet. This aimed at preventing mis-confusion and suppressing the dissemination of false news in continuing demonstrations against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Last week, in certain parts of Delhi an Internet blackout was imposed, also to answer anticipated CAA protests. The Delhi Deputy Police Officer directed telephone providers to shut down voice and SMS facilities in the city along with Internet connectivity for 5 hours.

That said, in the Jammu and Kashmir area, the longest closure in the world has been the prolonged blockade of mobile Internet networks. In some areas of Ladakh, including Kargil, it was raised along with the suspension. In fact, in 2019 alone, Internet services were blacked out for more than 50 periods in the City.