'SAYING THAT internet was just used to watch “dirty films (gandi filmein)” in Jammu and Kashmir, NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat said on Saturday that suspension of services in the region, following the government’s decision to revoke J&K’s special status under Article 370 on August 5 last year, did not have a “significant” effect on the economy...'
'While limited Internet and mobile connectivity services have begun in certain parts of the Jammu and Kashmir Union territory, residents will only be able to access 153 government-approved websites. Details of this “whitelist” – which was first announced on January 14, when Internet service providers were ordered to install the necessary firewalls – have now become public.
'...On Wednesday, an order similarly high on rhetoric but low on substance was passed by a court in New Delhi. Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad had been in custody for 25 days for allegedly instigating violence during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Jama Masjid in New Delhi on December 20. He had initially even been denied proper medical attention when in custody, forcing the courts to intervene. He then moved a bail application...
'Even as several groups in Chennai continue to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the City Police Commissioner AK Viswanathan promulgated an order prohibiting all protests, meetings, assemblies etc. for the next 15 dates. The Hindu reported that Monday’s order has been brought into effect under section 41 of the Tamil Nadu City Police Act 1888, which grants police the “power to regulate assemblies, meetings and processions in public places.” The order that is passed will not apply to any procession or demonstration for which permission has already been granted.
'A Delhi court granted bail to Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekar Azad Wednesday in a case related to anti-CAA protests at Delhi’s Daryaganj. While hearing Azad’s bail plea today, Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau imposed certain conditions on his bail and said the Bhim Army chief should not be in Delhi for the next four weeks. The judge expressed concern about security in Delhi given elections are around the corner. “Azad has to mark his presence with SHO in Saharanpur every Saturday for the next 4 weeks.
'The unintended consequence of the Supreme Court’s order on Internet Shutdowns in Kashmir — where it put down accountability norms for Internet shutdowns, and said that some essential websites should be accessible, is that it has given rise to the creation of the Great Indian Firewall: filters that control what users can and cannot access online.
'Historian Irfan Habib was slapped with a notice by an Aligarh Civil Court advocate for taking a jibe at the Prime Minister during a speech at the Aligarh Muslim University, calling him “illiterate”.
'A publisher-cum-author was evicted from his rented stall at the ongoing 43rd Chennai Book Fair by The Booksellers’ and Publishers’ Association of South India (BAPASI) for “violating rules and displaying for sale a controversial book against the government”. On Sunday, the police arrested V. Anbazhagan, who wrote a book on alleged corruption in the Chennai Corporation’s Smart City project, on charges of criminally intimidating office-bearers of BAPASI on Saturday when the eviction notice was served on him...'
'On December 30, amid the continuing stir against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Assam, Ajit Kumar Bhuyan resigned as the editor-in-chief of the popular satellite news channel Prag News. Bhuyan has been a prominent voice in the Assamese media that has unequivocally supported the ongoing protests. The resignation, according to his friends and colleagues, was a consequence of his consistent criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party government over the new citizenship law...'
'The police crackdown on journalists covering the anti-CAA protests across the country has made one thing clear. The press card, a powerful tool in the hands of every journalist, offers little protection if the name on it is that of a Muslim. Dozens of journalists were hounded by the police across the country during the protests in the last few weeks, leading many journalist unions to stage a protest in the national capital on December 26. Among them the most vulnerable to violence, threats of violence and bias by police were those with a Muslim name...
