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Internet as scapegoat: Banning internet across Rajasthan to prevent cheating in exams is as draconian as it gets

Internet as scapegoat: Banning internet across Rajasthan to prevent cheating in exams is as draconian as it gets

Tuesday, August 7, 2018 IST

The Rajasthan government seems to have made a habit of suspending mobile internet services going by the third such shutdown in as many weeks, all to prevent cheating in state recruitment examinations. The internet is no longer a recreational avenue that can be shut down at will. It has become inseparable from the smooth conduct of businesses, personal lives and even essential services. Suspending internet to ensure the integrity of a public examination reveals a sorry state of affairs in Rajasthan.

For one, it exposes the apathetic nature of the state which can put the lives of lakhs of people in disarray by wantonly turning off access to internet. It was no dire law and order issue but the simple conduct of an examination that warranted such drastic action. The resort to cheating reveals dysfunctional education systems, shoddy invigilation and the desperation among youth to secure a government job. It is also a telling commentary of fraying social integrity. Arunachal Pradesh too resorted to an internet shutdown to conduct a state recruitment test last month, evidence that the malaise and the purported cure transcend geographic boundaries.

Such blanket restrictions on internet only worsen the ease of doing business and make Rajasthan’s attempts to woo investors look farcical. According to Software Freedom Law Center, Rajasthan recorded 26 shutdowns in 2018 alone, Jammu and Kashmir 35, and the rest of India 32 shutdowns. In 2016, United Nations declared internet as a human right. Kerala followed suit a year later but within India, especially among states facing law and order problems, governments want to retain their right to enforce shutdowns in this age of digital rumour mongering. But the trouble begins as in Rajasthan when the internet is blamed for all ills and the weak law and order and education systems get a free pass.