March 25
According to a study by the Stanford University titled (of Blackouts and Bandhs): The Strategy and Structure of Disconnected Protest in India shows that most of the blackouts have happened in Kashmir as India witnessed 134 network shutdowns in 2018 alone and more than 100 in 2016-17.
The study found that approximately half of the world’s known network shutdowns have happened in India alone, mostly in Kashmir.
It also shows that these shutdowns are neither executed on the national level nor concentrated in a single state. Internet shutdowns are as decentralized as state power, it then comes to appear.
These shutdowns are measures of deliberate action by the authorities and are imposed by the state governments who find it “useful in pacifying or preventing protest”, the study says, supporting its arguments with strong empirical evidence.
In 2016 unrest, Kashmir witnessed the longest internet shutdown, which lasted for 203 days. In India, the number and diversity of both protests and network shutdowns affect life and livelihood deeply.
As per different estimates used in the study, the total duration of shutdowns in India between 2012 and 2017 remains 16, 315 hours (680 days), which has generated an economic loss of approximately $3.04 billion.
The report reads that Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Jammu Kashmir, with the state alone comprising about 47% of the total shutdowns.
“Of 36 states and union territories, these four regions account for more than 75% of all recorded shutdown events in India (2012-17), while Jammu and Kashmir alone comprises about 47%,” it reads.