Indian state cuts internet access for four days to 'stop misinformation'
An Indian state has restricted internet access to its 27 million residents as it continues its manhunt for a political dissident.
The Punjab government is searching for Amritpal Singh, a popular leader within the separatist Khalistan movement which seeks to create an independent state for followers of the Sikh religion, who are a minority in the country. The Indian government outlawed the Khalistan movement years ago and declared it a serious threat to national security.
On Saturday, Punjabi authorities announced a 24-hour cyber lockdown for public safety. Under current law, the government may block internet access to “prevent any incitement to violence and any disturbance of peace and public order.” According to CNN, Punjabi police specified that the internet shutdown is to prevent the spread of “fake news”.
The cyber lockdown has been extended three times, making for a total of four days without internet access.
Many of Singh’s supporters have taken to the streets in protest, and law enforcement has so far arrested over 100 people including a member of Singh’s security.
Balkaur Singh, the father of famous rapper Sidhu Moosewala who was slain amid gang violence, says that the cyber lockdown did not affect gangsters in prison, who continue to enjoy access to the internet.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) criticized the “security operations” against Amritpal Singh and the cyber lockdown.
“We are also deeply concerned that the confusion around Bhai Amritpal Singh’s detention may be used to orchestrate a false encounter and facilitate his extrajudicial murder. This tactic was commonly used by the Punjab police through the 80’s and 90’s to eliminate Sikh activists,” said the WSO in a statement Sunday.
“We call on the Canadian Government to demand accountability from India and call for the immediate restoration of civil rights and internet services in Punjab,” the organization added.
In response to the Punjab government’s actions, some of Singh’s supporters reportedly vandalized the Indian High Commission in London over the weekend, drawing condemnation from UK authorities.
The feud between the Khalistan movement and India’s government reached a crescendo in 1984 when the Indian army attacked the Golden Temple in Amritsar, one of Sikhism’s holiest sites, along with several other Sikh temples in Punjab. A bloody battle ensued at the Golden Temple, resulting in heavy casualties by the army and Sikh defenders and civilians.
The attacks on Sikh religious sites were part of Operation Woodrose, ordered by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. She was later assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.
Years before, Indira created a public emergency which her son, Sanjay Gandhi, then used to carry out a mass sterilization campaign.
In a program now familiar to many, the Indian government issued sterilization mandates stating that Indians would have their pay or promotion withheld until they agreed to be sterilized. One needed to show proof of sterilization in order to receive a salary, renew a driving license, or receive free medical care. Students whose parents had not been sterilized were detained.
Gandhi also had “vasectomy camps” set up. In Utter Pradesh, India’s most populous state, vasectomy camps were at one point performing 5,664 procedures a day. When presented with reports of forced vasectomies, Gandhi declared them “fabricated”.
Poor and underserved communities were the most affected, and there were no religious exemptions.
“Moreover, Mr. Gandhi argued that family planning was permitted by all religions, so no one could be spared from sterilization for religious reasons,” adds the report.
In 1975 alone, an estimated eight million Indians — mainly poor young men — were sterilized.
Those who resisted were met with police brutality and curfews, though media censorship quelled such reports.
