On Sept. 20, Facebook and YouTube were blocked in the Kashmir Valley by government order after Kashmiris took to the streets to protest the anti-Islamic video “Innocence of Muslims,†a trailer of which had been circulating online. The ban was officially revoked on Oct.1, but as of last weekend, access to the Web sites had not been fully restored.
State officials said the Kashmir ban was imposed in response to the unrest in neighboring Pakistan over the video, which resulted in more than 20 deaths there. Protests broke out across the Muslim world over the film, resulting in a number of deaths beyond Pakistan.
In India, though, no one died, and violence in Kashmir was minimal. Officials say they believe that the blackout was the right strategy, but it is raising uncomfortable questions about the control of information in the area.
“We were able to control the fallout of a dangerous situation,†one that “could have been much worse,†Iqbal Khandey, principal secretary of Jammu and Kashmir's Department of Home Affairs, said by telephone. Despite the protests, he noted, no one was killed and no serious injuries were reported.
The blackout, though, appears to have deepened resentment toward the state government among young Kashmiris.  Some said they were upset about the lack of information provided about the ban â€" just another example, they said, of the government not communicating with them.
“No one told us the logic behind the ban,†said Zuhaib Qureshi, 26, who works for a nongovernment organization in Kashmir. He called it an arbitrary shutdown of social networking and said it did not make sense. “You don't get informed here,†he said.
“The ban is wrong, it shouldn't have been done, and will just create unrest,†said Radha Kumar, director of the Delhi Policy Group think tank, who until last October was one of three interlocutors, or peace negotiators, appointed by the central government for Jammu and Kashmir State. It would have been better to “ban the film and get Facebook to disallow discussion of it, while allowing other Facebook activities to continue,†she said.
Ms. Kumar said a Facebook page she created while serving as interlocutor in the state got thousands of comments. People “mostly used it to vent, and the emotions were traumatic,†she said.  Â
Whether the blackout will be viewed in retrospect as an extreme measure by a panic-stricken government or a prudent move that saved lives, the motives behind it are being debated in Kashmir.
“They are trying to suppress the voices of people in Kashmir,†said Farhana Jan, 23, who recently completed a law degree from Kashmir University. Ms.Jan called the ban unjustifiable, and said that many government officials had publicly denied that there even was such a ban.
As of Oct.10, the official Web site of the state's Department of Home Affairs had yet to post a notice saying that Facebook and YouTube were being restored. But the original order blocking them was still visible.
S. Mufeed Ahmad, who heads the Media Education Research Center at Kashmir University, said that over the years social media has helped people across the valley, to stay connected.
Nevertheless, he supported the government's decision to block the Web sites. “If they want to maintain peace, maybe they need to take such steps,†Mr. Ahmad said.
