India

“The main element of “Digital India” is a digitally literate India, a capable India, a prosperous India...” 

This is the vision of “Digital India.” 

The "Digital India” project aims to use technology to deliver government programs and public services. 

The internet is key to making this happen. 

But Digital India faces one big challenge...Internet shutdowns. 

Since 2018, India has shut down the internet more than any other country in the world. 

State authorities have repeatedly cut off mobile internet. 

These shutdowns impact most of the population in the affected area since 96% of India’s internet subscribers access it on their phones. 

Without the internet, people can’t reach government food and work programs or conduct activities like banking. 

“Digital India has become a way of life particularly for the poor, marginalized and for those in government.”  

But it is poor and marginalized communities who are the most harmed during internet shutdowns, when government services get disrupted, affecting their human rights. 

1. Right to food 

People can’t receive subsidized food grains if they are unable to authenticate their biometric IDs using the internet. 

Internet blackouts in rural areas mean families could go hungry for days. 

2. Rights to employment and social security 

The government’s rural income security program, NREGA, requires workers to mark their attendance online. 

These women laborers have to upload a geo-tagged photo online to prove that they have showed up for work. 

“Last month, we worked for 15 days but we only got paid for 12 days because the [inter]net did not work.” Community supervisor, NREGA 

Indian authorities say they shut down the internet to maintain public order.  

But we found authorities use internet shutdowns for various other reasons, including to curb peaceful protests and prevent cheating on school exams. 

The government’s longest imposed blackout lasted for 550 days in Jammu and Kashmir. 

There’s no evidence that internet shutdowns help maintain law and order.  

Instead, they undermine free expression and act as a form of collective punishment that disproportionately impacts marginalized communities. 

Indian authorities should end the shutdowns. 

They should ensure that everyone has equal access to public services and social protection programs, even when the internet is not available. 

Digital India should ensure that technology protects people’s livelihoods and rights.   

Protests have erupted in countries across South Asia in response to recent horrifying case of sexual violence that have been badly mishandled by governments.

From Afghanistan to Bangladesh to India and the Maldives to Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, there is remarkable agreement across the region amongst experts on sexual violence about what needs to change.

Survivors of sexual violence, especially girls and women from marginalized communities, face sometimes insurmountable barriers to justice.

Vrinda Grover, Lawyer, India

If you overlay gender with the location of the victim survivor woman, through her caste, working class women, women who are from the religious minority, she finds it almost impossible to access justice because overlaid with all the structural and systemic hurdle is institutional bias.

When governments fail to respond effectively to sexual violence, survivors suffer and the abuses continue.

Ikleela Hameed, Founder of Voice of Children, Maldives

When somebody is speaking about their experience, there are people in the community who would go and bully them. You know, make them believe that it’s their fault.

Vrinda Grover, Lawyer, India

When she is trying to push her complaint forward, we see that at the police station, even there the pressure to withdraw or to go silent.

Shabnam Salehi, Human Rights Commissioner, Afghanistan

The judges still consider the victim as a criminal, and they ask a lot of the questions that is against the human dignities.

Dr. Lhamo Yangchen Sherpa, Expert, Nepal

It’s not only that the police registers the case. You then have to go to the court which might take years and years. That’s why most of the people, they either do not report or the cases are resolved outside the court.

In Bangladesh, it is estimated that less than 1 percent of rape cases investigated by police lead to conviction.

Umama Zillur, Founder and Director of Kotha, Bangladesh

At the village level, where you have an informal justice system, one of the most common ways of resolving rape cases there is by deciding that let’s marry off the victim survivor to the rapist.

Ambika Satkunanathan, Former Human Rights Commissioner, Sri Lanka

Women do not want to make complaints and seek redress because of the socio-cultural pressures.  But what this does, it also causes great trauma

Some government leaders in the region have argued that the solution is to execute rapists.

Pakistan’s prime minister called for rapists to be executed in public.

Bangladesh recently amended a law to add the death penalty for rape and Indian law already permits this in certain circumstances.

The experts agree that this is no solution.

Shabnam Salehi, Human Rights Commissioner, Afghanistan

As a human rights activist, I’m not in favor of the death penalty.

Farieha Aziz, Co-Founder of Bolo Bhi, Pakistan

Just a few years ago, a child was raped and murdered and her convicted rapist and murderer was given the death penalty, but that has not stopped other cases of child abuse or of sexual violence.

Umama Zillur, Founder and Director of Kotha, Bangladesh

Since it is a severe form of punishment for an and all type of rape it will reduce conviction rate across the board.

Ikleela Hameed, Founder of Voice of Children, Maldives

When our justice system is not so strong, a death penalty sentence may actually result in the death of an innocent person.

Vrinda Grover, Lawyer, India

Death penalty is not a deterrent for any crime, including sexual violence. It lets the state off the hook from doing the work that the state needs to do in order to ensure that women and girls live free lives in this country.

Governments need to do more to prevent sexual violence, proved services and support to survivors, and remove barriers to justice.

Umama Zillur, Founder and Director of Kotha, Bangladesh

One thing we have been advocating for and fighting for is comprehensive sexuality education to be made mandatory in all our schools.

Farieha Aziz, Co-Founder of Bolo Bhi, Pakistan

We do have laws and we do have certain procedures. What is necessary is that they are implemented.

Ambika Satkunanathan, Former Human Rights Commissioner, Sri Lanka

We do need more health services geared towards survivors, we need the legal services, we need the police to be sensitized. Hence, it’s not a short-term project as it were, but something that requires long-term change to tackle the problem.

Activists Perform Chilean Protest Song, “A Rapist in Your Path.”

Governments need to do more to prevent sexual violence, provide services and support to survivors, and remove barriers to justice.