Internet services were partially restored in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of Eid on August 12, Indiatimes reported. Internet services were snapped in the region on August 4, a day before Home Minister Amit Shah moved a resolution in the Rajya Sabha to revoke Article 370 of the Constitution that provides special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The state, as a result of tumult on its status at the Centre, has been experiencing a total communications blackout since August 4, when landline, cellphone and cable TV services were also suspended. The government partially restored internet and phone services reportedly to facilitate Friday prayers for Eid. After the initial shutdown in Kashmir, internet services were also interrupted in Kargil a few days later, after protests against revocation of Article 370 broke out in the region. The Jammu and Kashmir Principal Secretary Rohit Kansal said that prohibitory conditions had been further relaxed in parts of Kashmir, while Jammu was almost entirely free of restriction, India Today reported. This was the 51st shutdown in the state in just 2019. The country has witnessed a total of 71 shutdowns in 2019. Petitions against communications blackout in Kashmir At least two petitions are being heard in the Supreme Court against the communications blackout in Kashmir, while another was dismissed. The first, by Kashmir Times’ executive editor Anuradha Bhasin, sought direction to the Centre and J&K officials to immediately relax restrictions on internet, mobile and landline services in Kashmir and parts of Jammu. The SC admitted this…
