The Internet Is Painfully Slow In Kashmir – But Users Have Found A Way To Access Restricted Websites scroll.in

On January 28, independent photojournalist Syed Shahriyar had just returned from covering the funeral of a militant killed during an encounter with security forces in South Kashmir. Glued to his mobile phone, he typed out an email pitch to editors who might be interested in his pictures. His pitch went through the newly restored limited internet in Kashmir since it was plain text. But his pictures would not. “It is impossible to send pictures or videos to my editors at 2G speed,”.

The same day, Basharat Ahmad, a resident of Srinagar, tried to pay his electricity bill over a mobile application. “It took me half an hour to reach the payment gateway,” he said. When he keyed in the one time password, the app said the site cannot be reached. “It was a payment of Rs 4,700 and while the amount got debited from my account, it is still showing that the bill payment is pending,” said Ahmad.