Srinagar:Mobile and broadband services were shut down in Kashmir over the weekend, preceding an announcement by the Indian government to strip the region of its limited autonomy.

Wilayat Times says that C.K Hickey reports to FM,There is precedent for the government’s move: Internet service was suspended 53 times in the Jammu and Kashmir region so far this year. As indicated in the chart by FM, the number of shutdowns in Jammu and Kashmir more than doubled each year from 2015 to 2018—and is on track to increase once again this year.

Thanks in large part to Kashmir, the region with the most shutdowns, India has suspended the internet around the country 159 times in the past three years. As seen in the chart below, India recorded more internet shutdowns between January 2016 and June 2018 than Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Ethiopia,Dem. Rep. of Congo, Turkey,Iran,Chad and Egypt combined.