{"id":235,"date":"2008-08-26T09:57:16","date_gmt":"2008-08-26T13:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/idblog\/?p=235"},"modified":"2008-08-26T11:05:28","modified_gmt":"2008-08-26T15:05:28","slug":"indian-supreme-court-bans-sms-services-in-jammu-kashmir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/2008\/08\/26\/indian-supreme-court-bans-sms-services-in-jammu-kashmir\/","title":{"rendered":"India Bans SMS Services in Kashmir"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Indian Supreme Court has ignored the <a href=\"http:\/\/kashmirbarassociation.com\/\">Jammu and Kashmir High Court<\/a>\u2019s decision to lift the state-wide ban on SMS (Short Message Service, or texting) services, MSN News India <a href=\"http:\/\/news.in.msn.com\/national\/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1649655\">reported<\/a>. The ban was imposed on August 3rd after the state blamed SMS messages for \u201cspread(ing) rumors during protests\u201d and \u201cwhipping up communal tensions.\u201d Ultimately, the <a href=\"http:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/SC_stays_HC_order_on_SMS_ban_in_JK\/articleshow\/3329526.cms\">ban was extended <\/a>after the Indian government declared that \u201cthe curbs imposed on SMS services were necessary to prevent unscrupulous elements from misusing them.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The state\u2019s ban only reaffirms the powerful role SMS messaging has played in the region, especially in allowing protestors to mobilize and share political updates. <a href=\"http:\/\/mobileactive.org\/activists-and-citizen-jo\">Activists in Pakistan used SMS <\/a>messaging to communicate and organize protests when <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/south_asia\/7567451.stm\">former President Musharraf<\/a> declared martial law in November 2007; and it has been used on campuses across India to mobilize student demonstrations, most recently at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tribuneindia.com\/2008\/20080226\/delhi.htm#3\">Delhi University<\/a>. Now, despite the <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/asia-pacific\/7580014.stm\">&#8220;indefinite curfew&#8221; that was imposed<\/a> on the valley on Sunday, thousands have marched across Kashmir, in opposition to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/world\/2008\/aug\/22\/kashmir.india\">India&#8217;s military occupation<\/a> and its most recent <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-elc3s14_Og\">acts of aggression <\/a>in the region. <\/p>\n<p>From Sri Nagar, the BBC\u2019s Altaf Hussain <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/south_asia\/7580325.stm\">wrote<\/a>, \u201cThe strength of the protests is an embarrassment for the Indian authorities.\u201d Blogger <a href=\"http:\/\/umarblogs.blogspot.com\/\"><em>KashmirViews<\/em><\/a>, who was an eyewitness to the march in Eidgah, supplemented Hussain\u2019s claim: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThere were people from all parts of Valley, enveloping everything under the sun. Political, social, economic and religious organizations. Lawyers, doctors, cops in civvies, white collar employees, blue-collar employees. Children\u2019s gangs, Women\u2019s guild, cart pushers, the destitute and even the differently able (Handicapped) were present.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>With the overwhelming opposition it faces, India\u2019s decision to ban SMS messaging &#8211; as well as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cellular-news.com\/story\/32897.php\">two local TV stations <\/a>&#8211; is not entirely surprising. In a country, and region, where cell phones are far more accessible than the internet, SMS messaging has become a critical device for mobilizing people. Also, the state\u2019s explanation for the ban \u2013 to restrict the circulation of \u201crumors\u201d by \u201cunscrupulous elements\u201d \u2013 seems dubious.  Given India\u2019s rapidly growing tech sector and increasingly tech savvy population, the government would be unable to limit the use of digital networked technologies within its own country without generating dissent among the country\u2019s growing middle class. Sadly, India has disregarded such a policy in Kashmir. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Indian Supreme Court has ignored the Jammu and Kashmir High Court\u2019s decision to lift the state-wide ban on SMS (Short Message Service, or texting) services, MSN News India reported. The ban was imposed on August 3rd after the state blamed SMS messages for \u201cspread(ing) rumors during protests\u201d and \u201cwhipping up communal tensions.\u201d Ultimately, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1847,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2142,2143],"tags":[2845,2846],"class_list":["post-235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-id-project","category-tech-tools","tag-add-new-tag","tag-sms"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1847"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}