Internet Shutdown Has Lasted For Over 36 Hours In Meghalaya And Assam Over Protests

India has maintained an Internet shutdown in the states of Meghalaya and Assam for over 36 hours now. This move from the government is to control protests over a new, far-reaching, controversial citizen rule.

The shutdown in these two states, which affects 32 million people living here, is the latest instance of a concerning trend adopted by governments around the world: preventing people from online communication as well as access to information.

India is the world’s second-largest internet market with over 650 million users, and the government continues this practice more than any other country across the globe.

On Thursday, Ram Nath Kovind, the country’s President, granted approval to the Citizenship Amendment Bill, just one day after the Parliament passed it. With this law, non-Muslim minorities that are from three neighbor countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, have the opportunity to get Indian citizenship, not for the Muslim minority in India itself.

Not long after the Parliament passed the bill, protests broke out in Meghalaya and Assam. The residents here, who have had concerns about immigration from those three countries for a long time now, got in the streets. The government has also suspended texting services in Meghalaya too.

The Indian government shut down the Internet and sent in troops so as to contain the situation. The United Nations has previously condemned this measure, considering it as an action violating human rights.

Assam officials said:

For now, officials haven’t said anything about when the Internet will be resumed at the two states.

More and more nations are preventing people from communications as well as access to information and news, but India does this far more than others.

According to a report from Access Now earlier 2019, India had between 134 and 196 documented shutdowns last year. A service that’s operated by Software Lay and Freedom Centre based in Delhi, called Internet Shutdowns, reported that there have been around 91 documented internet shutdowns in the country just in 2019.

The Indian government shut the Internet down in Kashmir and Jammu for 133 days after it stripped the larger part of Muslim territory of its autonomy back in August.