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Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

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Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#121

As a young tech person in India, this stuff makes me so angry. The ruling party here (BJP) doesn't have any real competition. Which means they can get away with pretty much anything. They've banned VPNs. They'll chuck you in prison if you speak against the government or a politician. Then they'll brand you as an "anti-nationalist" and openly say to their supporters that you deserve to be shot. Facial recognition is n…

I am in Jammu(India) right now and can attest that comments like above are only opinions and not facts. As goes for any country, people keep inventing stuff / leaving crucial details because of their own biases and self interests. The same goes for people who support BJP.

> I am in Jammu (India) right now and can attest that comments like above are only opinions and not facts.

Just a note that being in India or for that matter being closer to Kashmir (Jammu) doesn't make your comment / opinion / statement any more authoritative.

I hate to be that guy, but some or all may apply:

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/appeal-to-authority

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/special-pleading

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/composition-division

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/tu-quoque

Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#122

The majority of the population has blind faith in BJP. The only demographic that appears to realise the implications well enough is the youth in urban areas - a very insignificant fraction of the nation's population. Sounds all too familiar here in the US. We are effectively held hostage by rural voters, and the obvious remedy for this state of affairs -- abolishing the Electoral College -- will mean that those voter…

"held hostage by rural voters" is an interesting choice of words considering they already feel the same way. There are already movements in a number of states with a lot of local support to have rural areas that are politically dominated by urban voters secede and join other states that more closely align with their values. I don't know why state governments don't let that happen more freely if they aren't actually t…

Because redrawing state lines is not a simple thing, nor would it really solve the fact that there will be a mix of different voters and values in every location.

Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#123

The majority of the population has blind faith in BJP. The only demographic that appears to realise the implications well enough is the youth in urban areas - a very insignificant fraction of the nation's population. Sounds all too familiar here in the US. We are effectively held hostage by rural voters, and the obvious remedy for this state of affairs -- abolishing the Electoral College -- will mean that those voter…

Who is "we"? This is how democracy works, and those rural voters have a say in what happens. This country would crumble within months without all those flyover states contributing to the nation.

Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#124
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your intentions are really good, but this kind of comment is _exactly_ what the person you're responding to was talking about - you're just playing another cat-and-mouse game and not solving the real issue. The world is hitting a breaking point where this has to be solved by fixing governments/legislation/what have you, not by programming more. (Edit: a typo)

We're on a tech form. We aren't political experts, we're tech experts. While we should be aware and discuss the political issues at the end of the day we aren't experts in that. But being experts in tech, we can approach the problem from that end. This isn't a "I'm a hammer therefore every problem is a nail" this is "It is a complicated problem that involves nails, screws, rivets, welding, etc. I am good at using a h…

wait are you telling me that experts in tech are not by default also experts in all other fields? i'm going to have to let everyone i work with know about this...

Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#125

The most populous democracy on earth, everybody!

Yeah, one that's nuclear armed and constantly on the brink of war with its nuclear armed neighbor. A bit worrying, no?

Turns out Civilization bugs are more prescient than we thought.

Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#126
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We had a pretty big experiment with federalism and secession in the 19th century, actually.

Yeah, but they didn't have VPNs back then ;)

any time i had to use the VPN at my previous job it certainly felt like it was developed during the civil war...

Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#127

As a young tech person in India, this stuff makes me so angry. The ruling party here (BJP) doesn't have any real competition. Which means they can get away with pretty much anything. They've banned VPNs. They'll chuck you in prison if you speak against the government or a politician. Then they'll brand you as an "anti-nationalist" and openly say to their supporters that you deserve to be shot. Facial recognition is n…

This comment has so many factual inaccuracies. 1. Vote share for BJP in urban areas have been consistent with rural areas in the most recent national election of 2019. Source: Official website of election commission of India 2. There are multiple celebrity status people (including journalists, students, politicians) and common people openly complaining against government on Twitter and in public forums and they are all free and continue to do so without the fear of being arrested. Examples: Ravish Kumar, Barkha Dutt, Shehla Rashid, Shashi Tharoor, Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Kanhaiya Kumar and countless more. 3. Ruling party has a very strong competition at state level. In India, police report to states (except Delhi) so in general, states have much more power to control law and order than central govt. BJP has lost recent assembly elections spectacularly in Delhi and some other states. 4. People always have reasons to be upset. When J&K was an independent state the people in Jammu and Ladakh were upset because of the corruption, lawlessness and rampant terrorism about which local govt. biased in favor of Kashmir region didn't do anything. Then, Kashmiris were holding Ladakh and Jammu folks hostage.

Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#128

When I left Kashmir a few months ago, my phone and all its contents were checked by Indian police at the airport. They asked me to unlock and checked photos, WhatsApp texts, etc. Random arrests and extra-judicial killings of Kashmiris by the Indian state is a quite regular occurrence. A laughable narrative around how they were "Pakistan sponsored terrorists" is usually spun by the media/police nexus.

Classic internet comment conflating 2 different issues into one to make an abhorrent point.

India is over reaching in Kashmir without question. But to imply that there aren't terrorist actors from Pakistan in the region is completely false. It has been borne out time and again that even if they don't physically cross the border, they train and indoctrinate the youth in the region somehow.

This is the problem with everyone opposing this govt. There are egregious violations of privacy happening in Kashmir but the talk revolves around how they're creating a smokescreen with terrorists. This is both true and false. They are creating a smokescreen but no Indian will ever disagree that the ISI is sending over jihadis on the regular to this day and that Imran Khan is a puppet with the strings in the hands of the Pakistani army. If you throw out the latter, you can attack and criticise the govt for its draconian laws. But they'd rather fight using that stupid crutch.

Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#130
post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am in Jammu(India) right now and can attest that comments like above are only opinions and not facts. As goes for any country, people keep inventing stuff / leaving crucial details because of their own biases and self interests. The same goes for people who support BJP.

If you have a specific issue with what GP said, please state it. Vague accusations are impossible to respond to. If your contribution is "people are biased", that's not too helpful.

Again, this is just your opinion. You are no different from the so called die hard BJP fans. You just take the opposite stand. Your methods are same.
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