Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Over 170 Academics from Around the World Demand India Restore High-Speed Internet, Release Kashmiri Political Prisoners

While the world readjusts to handle the Coronavirus, Kashmir is stuck under 2G internet (which was first rolled out in 1995) and without adequate equipment and facilities. As a result, the following letter has been sent from the Kashmir Scholars Consultative and Action Network (KSCAN) and Concerned Academics & Professionals from around the world to the World Health Organization, UN Special Rapporteurs, and various international health organizations. You can view the official letter here. We have included relevant links embedded directly from the original news sources at the bottom of this letter. For more, check out our Kashmir 2019 Siege section.

We the undersigned would like to bring to your notice the debilitating communications lockdown that has been in place in Indian-controlled Kashmir for the past seven months. Despite the region reporting multiple positive cases of Covid-19, the Indian government has, criminally, barred residents from accessing reliable, high-speed internet. Only recently, through an administrative diktat, the Indian authorities extended the ban on high-speed internet until 26th of March.

Eight Million People Can’t Get News About The Coronavirus Because Their Government Is Slowing Down The Internet

NEW DELHI – More than 8 million people who live in Kashmir, the disputed region between India and Pakistan, are unable to depend on the internet to get reliable information about the coronavirus pandemic, work from home, or attend classes online.

Apart from allowing individuals and families to access the latest information on how to keep themselves safe from the Corona virus, high-speed internet allows healthcare professionals to be aware of the latest information regarding managing the impending medical crisis as well as to stay in touch with their colleagues around the globe for advice.

As we are already seeing in countries across Europe and America, reliable internet also allows day-to-day economic and educational functions to operate substantially during any social-distancing measures, which are central to preventing community spread of this highly contagious disease. It is also urgent to bring to your attention the plight of hundreds of Kashmiri political prisoners, who remain detained in unhygienic conditions in various jails in Kashmir and across India, and are therefore at a grave and increased risk of infection. Global health experts have urged the immediate release of prisoners, and we second these calls.

Kashmiri leaders aren’t the only ones held under PSA – young men are languishing in faraway jails

When the Modi government scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, placing the region under lockdown, the men in the Pandit family were worried. “On August 6, two of my sons and I stayed away from home because of the situation,” said Ghulam Rasool Pandit, who lives in Karimabad village in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

Coronavirus cases are being missed in Kashmir because of inadequate testing, claim doctors

Doctors in Indian administered Kashmir believe the authorities could have facilitated the spread of deadly coronavirus by refusing to carry out tests. Dr Tsering Angchuk, the Medical Superintendent in Sonam Norboo Memorial Hospital (SNM) in the city of Leh, received three patients he suspected of having contracted coronavirus in late January.

Through your good offices, we — the multiple Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri scholars, medical as well as public healthcare professionals and academics living across the globe — urge the Indian government to immediately restore high-speed internet connectivity in the region and, unconditionally, release all Kashmiri political prisoners. As Kashmir heads into this pandemic with a severely underdeveloped public health infrastructure and healthcare system, as result of decades of militarization, it is imperative that the Indian government allow its residents to make use of virtual technologies to their maximum potential in order to alleviate the dreadful impact of this virus. Ensuring the alleviation of the pandemic in Kashmir is urgent for Kashmiris as well as for the region and the world.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Signatories:

1. Dean Accardi, Assistant Professor of History, Connecticut College, USA
2. Binish Ahmed, Ph.D. Candidate, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
3. Omer Aijazi, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Toronto, Canada
4. Dibyesh Anand, Professor of International Relations, University of Westminster, UK
5. Mirza Saaib Beg, Lawyer, London, UK
6. Mona Bhan, Associate Professor of Anthropology and the Ford Maxwell Professor of South Asian Studies, Syracuse University, USA
7. Emma Brännlund, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), UK
8. Farhan Mujahid Chak, Associate Professor, Qatar University, Qatar
9. Angana Chatterji, University of California, Berkeley
10. Huma Dar, Adjunct Professor, California College of Arts, USA
11. Haley Duschinski, Associate Professor, Ohio University, USA
12. Iffat Fatima, Filmmaker, India
13. Mohammed Tahir Ganie, Assistant Professor, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Ireland
14. Javaid Hayat Khan, Ph. D. Independent Researcher and Analyst, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
15. Serena Hussain, Associate Professor, Coventry University, UK
16. Khushdeep Kaur, Ph.D. Candidate, Temple University, USA
17. Nitasha Kaul, Associate Professor, University of Westminster, UK
18. Shrimoyee Nandini Ghosh, Lawyer and Legal Researcher, India
19. Mohamad Junaid, Assistant Professor, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, USA
20. Hafsa Kanjwal, Assistant Professor of History, Lafayette College, USA
21. Mir Fatimah Kanth, Ph.D. Student, University of California, San Diego, USA
22. Ain Ul Khair, Central European University
23. Suvir Kaul, A.M. Rosenthal Professor, Department of English, University of Pennsylvania, USA
24. Zunaira Komal, Ph.D. Candidate, University of California, Davis, USA
25. Fozia Nazir Lone, Associate Professor of International Law, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
26. Laura Lucia Notaro, Consultant, Sustainable Development, Milan, Italy
27. Inshah Malik, Assistant Professor, Kardan University, Kabul, Afghanistan
28. Deepti Misri, Associate Professor, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
29. Preetika Nanda, Research Scholar, India
30. Raja Qaiser Ahmad, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
31. Immad Nazir, Research Scholar, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
32. Goldie Osuri, Associate Professor, University of Warwick, UK
33. Idrisa Pandit, Independent Scholar, Waterloo, Canada
34. Samina Raja, Professor, University of Buffalo, USA
35. Torrun Arnsten Sajjad, Department of Community Medicine and Global Health, University of Oslo, Norway
36. Mehroosh Tak., Lecturer, Royal Veterinary College, London, UK
37. Nishita Trisal, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
38. Saiba Varma, Assistant Professor, University of California, San Diego, USA
39. Haris Zargar, Ph.D. Candidate, International Institute of Social Sciences, The Hague, Netherlands
40. Ather Zia, Assistant Professor, University of Northern Colorado, USA
41. Mirza Waheed, Novelist, London
42. Dr Priyamvada Gopal, Cambridge University
43. Khawaja Khalid Rauf, IT Admin. Hamburg, Germany
44. Aamir Rashid Najar, IT consultant, Hamburg, Germany
45. Tavseef Mairaj, PhD candidate, Hamburg University of Technology, Germany
46. Mudasir Wazir, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
47. Umar Lateef Misgar, University of Westminster, London
48. Ikram Ullah, University of Marburg, Germany
49. Ramya Maddali, Académie d’Orléans-Tours, Orléans, France
50. Aashna Jamal, Economist, Timor-Leste
51. Hashim Syed, Visual Anthropologist, University of Münster, Germany
52. Zara Bakshi, Researcher, Ashoka University
53. Annapurna Menon, University of Westminster, London
54. Suhail Yousuf, PhD, Heidelberg University Medical Center and German Cancer Research Center, Germany
55. Pooja Krishnakumar, PhD candidate, SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom
56. Saima Rashid, Post-Grad student, Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, Istanbul, Turkey
57. Tara Vidisha Ghose, SOAS University of London, United Kingdom
58. Tara Bhat, SOAS University of London, London, United Kingdom
59. Maya Bhardwaj, SOAS — University of London, UK
60. Gehna Kapoor
61. Saquib Farooq, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
62. Dr. Haneen Bég, Kumudini Womens Medical College and Hospital, Bangladesh
63. Aruna Chaudhuri, London, United Kingdom
64. Waseem Malik, Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, JNU, India.
65. Rabia Latif Khan, PhD candidate, SOAS, University of London
66. Syed Burhan Gilani, MBBS student, Bolan Medical College, Quetta
67. Ummi Ammarah, Joint PhD student between KU Leuven, Belgium and University of Turin, Italy.
68. Arshita Nandan
69. Tanvi Surana, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK.
70. Huma Raiel Assad, Junior Research Fellow, Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore
71. Sarah Lina Ewald, PhD candidate, University of Tübingen, Germany
72. Abhishek Mukhopadhyay, France
73. Burooj Ghani, PhD Candidate, University of Göttingen, Germany
74. Iffat Rashid, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
75. Faisal Wani, PhD candidate, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands.
76. Alia Andleeb, University of East Anglia, UK
77. Shams Rehman, JKTV Live
78. Abdulfatah Yousfi, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia
79. Tridib Bhattacharya, SOAS University of London
80. Amit Kumar, Student, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi
81. Evita, National Alliance of People’s Movements.
82. Zeeshan Mushtaq, PhD Candidate, Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, Germany.
83. Peer Viqar Ul Aslam, Chairman, Human Rights and Relief Foundation
84. Nimra Neyaz,M.Sc student,Jamia Hamdard University,India
85. Mubashir Ahmad, PhD, Ulm University, Germany.
86. Dr. Basit Yousuf, Canadian Blood Services, Canada
87. Abdul Muqeet Khan, Director of Internal Audit, QInvest
88. Shaikh Akhtar Rasool, Technical Architect, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
89. Atiya Husain, Assistant Professor, University of Richmond, US
90. Nouf Bazaz, Clinical Assistant Professor, Loyola University Maryland, USA
91. Aparna Gopalan, PhD Candidate, Harvard University
92. Divya Cherian, Assistant Professor, Princeton University
93. Sheetal Chhabria, Associate Professor, Connecticut College
94. Audrey Truschke, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University
95. Dr Fayaz Dar
96. Mariam Duranni, Assistant Professor, Hamilton College
97. Walter N. Hakala, Associate Professor, University at Buffalo, USA
98. Akshaya Tankha, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
99. Dr. Dina M Siddiqi, New York University
100. Dr Shoukat Rashid Dar MD Emergentologist HMC Doha.
101. Atif Shahzad, System Integration Specialist, Hamburg, Germany.
102. Tapsi Mathur, Assistant Professor of History, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
103. Dr. M Ashraf Bhat, Jazan University, KSA
104. Hasan Aahraf, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh
105. Dr. Anooradha Iyer Siddiqi, Barnard College, Columbia University
106. Dia Da Costa, University of Alberta
107. Alan Greig
108. Dr. Beth Capper, Department of English and Film Studies, University of Alberta
109. Terri Tomsky, Associate Professor, University of Alberta
110. Dr. Dip Kapoor, Professor, University of Alberta
111. Dr. Shama Rangwala, University of Alberta
112. Dr. Natasha Hurley, Office of Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
113. Dr. Neha Vora, Lafayette College
114. Iqbal Javeed, Lead Consultant
115. Dr. Ananya Chakravarti, Associate Professor of History, Georgetown University
116. Amit Kumar
117. Supriya Nayak, Dance artist, Toronto
118. Mubbashir Rizvi, Georgetown University
119. Noaman G. Ali, Assistant Professor, Lahore University of Management Sciences
120. Monica Gyamlani, Student, National Film and Television School
121. Dr. Tasaduk Hussain Itoo, Chairman cum Director J & K Innovative Foundation For Transforming Society (JKIFTS)
122. Praveen Kolluguri, Propositions Specialist, British Telecom. CEO, foodBae
123. Abdullah Al-Arian, Associate Professor, UniversityGeorgetown University in Qatar
124. Hamsa Stainton, Assistant Professor, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec
125. Visvaksen P, South Asian Studies, SOAS, University of London
126. Tim Newfield, Assistant Professor, History and Biology, Georgetown University
127. Yodit Tesfamicael, Education Policy Studies Department, University of Alberta
128. Lebogang Disele, Department of Drama, University of Alberta
129. Sara Hakeem Grewal, Assistant Professor, MacEwan University, Edmonton, AB
130. Eddy Kent, Associate Professor of English, University of Alberta
131. Shaista Patel, Assistant Professor, University of California, San Diego
132. Debjani Bhattacharyya, Assistant Professor, Drexel University, Philadelphia.
133. Dr. Janice Williamson, Professor Emeritus of English, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
134. Junaid Quadri, Department of History, University of Illinois at Chicago
135. Ania Loomba Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania
136. Projit Bihari Mukharji, Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania.
137. David Ludden, New York University
138. Nama Khalil, Adjunct Professor, Columbus College of Art and Design
139. Arooj Khalil, Queen Mary, University of London
140. Gillian Robinson, PhD student, Educational Policy Studies, University of Alberta
141. Zareena Grewal Assoc Prof Ethnicity Race & Migration Yale University
142. Banazeer Yaqoob, University of Alberta
143. Lorena Espinoza Guerrero, Central European University
144. Hoda Bandeh-Ahmadi, Director of Social Research, Center for Surgical Training and Research, University of Michigan
145. Daniel Muth, Central European University
146. Antonio Alcazar III, Central European University
147. SherAli Tareen, Associate Professor Department of Religious Studies, Franklin and Marshall College
148. Malavika Kasturi, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Toronto
149. Anjum Rafiqi, Sydney
150. Danial Asmat, PhD, Research Economist, Washington D.C.
151. Chinnaiah Jangam, Associate Professor, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
152. Areej Alshammiry, Graduate Student, Educational Policy Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
153. Renan Silva, Central European University
154. Junaid S. Ahmad, Assistant Professor of Islam and Decolonial Thought, University of Management and Technology
155. Aslam Mehmood Bachh, BE Electronics, FSR Unity Lab Services
156. Omar M. Ramahi, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
157. Aasim Amin, Research Scientist, Germany
158. Dr. Sadequl Islam, Professor & Chair, Department of Economics, Laurentian University, Ontario, Canada
159. Erick D. Langer, Professor, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
160. Manjita Mukharji
161. Bhavani Raman, University of Toronto, Canada.
162. Dr. Romina Ruvalcaba, University of California, Merced.
163. Michael Litwack, Assistant Professor, Department of English & Film Studies, University of Alberta
164. Nadia Khan, Doctoral Candidate, University of Chicago Divinity School
165. Rohan D’Souza, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University.
166. Ayesha Sadaf, post doctoral researcher
167. Ahmed Mobeen, PhD Research Scholar, IGIB, India
168. Giancarlo Grignaschi, PhD student, Central European University, Budapest
169. Anam Zakaria, Oral Historian and Author
170. Kalpana Wilson, Lecturer in Geography, Birkbeck, University of London
171. Zahida War, King’s College London, UK
172. Sadhvi Dar, Queen Mary University of London, UK
173. Remi Joseph-Salisbury, University of Manchester’s
174. Diwas Raja Kc, Head of Research & Archives, Nepal Picture Library
175. Waseem Yaqoob, Queen Mary University of London
176. Matteo Mandarini, Queen Mary University of London
177. Akshi Singh, Queen Mary University of London
178. Nivi Manchanda, Queen Mary University of London
179. Chris Moffat, Queen Mary University of London
180. Amina Mir, Doctoral Researcher, University of Westminster
181. Feyzi Ismail, SOAS, University of London
182. Lilia Sablina, PhD student, Central European University
183. Sanaz Raji, Independent Scholar & Migrant Rights Campaigner
184. Simon Layton, Queen Mary University of London
185. Devyani Sharma, Queen Mary University of London
186. Dr Gwyneth Lonergan, Lancaster University
187. Navyug Gill, William Paterson University
188. Dr. Nicole Wolf, University of London
189. Dr Drew Milne, University of Cambridge, UK.
190. Dr Tanzil Chowdhury, Queen Mary University of London
191. Dr Naaz Rashid, University of Sussex
192. John L Esposito, Georgetown University
193. Zeinab Drabu, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
194. Madhusree Mukerjee, Author, Churchill’s Secret War
195. Virinder Kalra, University of Warwick
196. Dr.K.W.Hassan, Central University of Kashmir
197. Marcia Chatelain, Ph.D., Georgetown University
198. Dr Lotika Singha, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Wolverhampton, UK
199. Professor Robert Hampson, University of London
200. Dr Arshad Rather, FRCP, University college London
201. Nisha Nath, PhD, Athabasca University, Canada