Since 11 July, Monday, social media has been erupting in outrage against the alleged reports of the Facebook account of a pro-Kashmir activist, Huma Dar being blocked. The account has been reportedly blocked to contain the political unrest in the region.
The internet in the Kashmir Valley region had been suspended over the weekend to stop the rumours spread by anti-social elements. The unrest was triggered by the killing of Burhan Wani, a most wanted guerrilla of Kashmir. The protests erupted during the funeral of Wani, and the death toll has now risen to 22.
Huma Dar tweeted screenshots of the “account disabled” prompt that she got, saying that Facebook censors news from “besieged Kashmir” and deletes articles and pictures, besides disabling accounts.
The protests on Facebook and Twitter are being shared furiously. Kufir Nalgundwar shared status with Dar’s screenshots and is trending the most.
Among the voices against the state is also that of Vishwesh Rammohan, who criticized Facebook accusing them of suppressing the voices. Facebook has made no statement on this matter but has assured that they are looking into the matter.
The protests in the northern region of India are serious in nature. Naturally secluded from the rest of the country, Kashmir was recently introduced to the internet as a mode of communication. In light of this, most activists feel that it is extremely irresponsible of the company to do such a thing. Subduing Huma Dar’s voice is believed to come at a high cost to the nation. The University of California, Berkley scholar has since continued with her protests on Twitter and other offline mediums.
Whether or not the social media platform reinstates her profile, is a matter only for them to decide upon.
