Amnesty International India (AII) on Thursday urged theCentre to immediately restore high-speed 4G internet services in Jammu andKashmir to help people in preparing against the spread of coronavirus.
AII executive director Avinash Kumar, in a statement, saidthe COVID-19 situation is constantly evolving and to ensure its full communicationto the people of J and K the Centre must urgently lift internet restrictions inthe region and ensure real time preparedness of the people against the spreadof the virus.
“The responses to corona virus cannot be based on humanrights violations and a lack of transparency and censorship,” thestatement said.
It said that despite four positive cases of coronavirusbeing confirmed in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the government hasordered the continued restrictions on full internet services such asrestricting speed to 2G in the region.
“Complete internet shutdowns have also been imposedintermittently in certain areas in the guise of security. There is growinganxiety around the pandemic and unwarranted restrictions on content anddissemination of information only stands to add to the panic. Completeshutdowns or restricting of internet speed or access makes it difficult forpeople to navigate their way through a difficult time further undermining theirtrust in the authorities,” the statement said.
The Centre needs to adopt a “rights-respecting”approach to protect public health and restore access to 4G speed internet,Kumar said.
Human rights approach must be at the centre of allprevention, preparedness, containment, and treatment efforts to protect publichealth and support the most vulnerable groups, he said, adding that the rightto health as guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsprovides for the right to access healthcare.