Kashmir’s Internet Siege provides an overview of the harms, costs and consequences of the
digital siege in Jammu & Kashmir, from August 2019 to the publication of this report in August
2020. We examine the shutdown and network disruptions through a broad-based and multidimensional
human rights framework that sees internet access as vital in the contemporary world.
India leads the world in ordering internet shutdowns, and both in terms of frequency and duration,
Jammu & Kashmir accounts for more than two-thirds of the Indian shutdowns ordered. Mobile
internet data speed in Kashmir is currently restricted to 2G internet (250kbps). Even this access
remains extremely precarious as localized shutdowns of the internet in specific districts or areas, often
accompanied by mobile phone disruptions, are commonplace, sometimes lasting for upto a week.
In this report we contextualise the digital siege in light of long standing, widespread and
systematic patterns of rights violations in Kashmir. Digital sieges are a technique of political
repression in Kashmir, and a severe impediment to the enjoyment of internationally and
constitutionally guaranteed civil, political and socio-economic rights. They curtail circulation of
news and information, restrict social and emergency communications, and silence and criminalise
all forms of political interactions and mobilisations as “militancy related” “terrorist activity” and
threats to “national security”.

Through the chapters we focus on the layered impact of the pandemic and trace the consequences
for differently located Kashmiris, including students, health workers, and journalists.
Speaking with five individuals provides qualitative insights that animate and punctuate
the narrative, and give us a glimpse into ordinary lives lived, and opportunities lost, amidst
these crippling restrictions. Through a granular and detailed Timeline we present a temporal
visualisation of the fluidity and complexity of the digital siege, as it unfolded through the first 300
days, across different regional geographies within Jammu & Kashmir.
Taken as a whole, Kashmir’s Internet Siege argues that the multi-faceted and targeted denial of
digital rights is a systemic form of discrimination, digital repression and collective punishment
of the region’s residents, particularly in light of India’s long history of political repression and
atrocities. The promise of lasting peace, freedom and justice for the people of Jammu & Kashmir is
inextricably tied to digital and human rights in the region.

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