The Indian government has told RIM, the Canadian manufaturers of BlackBerry mobile phones to either provide access to encryption or face a ban from 31 August onwards. The Indian government says the BES and messenger services pose a grave security concern.
India has one of the largest growing markets for BlackBerry users.
Indian journalist Hem Chandra Pandey was killed during an armed encounter with state police in the southern state of Andrah Pradesh on 2 July. The journalist is reported to have been attempting to interview the leader of the banned Communist Party of India, Cherukuri Rajkumar. Pandey’s body was initially identified by local police investigating the incident as a Maoist cadre before his wife noticed his image in the press and corrected the authorities. The Indian Journalists’ Union (IJU) has called for an independent judicial inquiry into the events surrounding Pradesh’s death.
New Delhi’s Central Board of Film Classification has refused to certify the documentary Flames of the Snow. The body stated that any film which romanticises and promotes the violence of the Maoist groups in Nepal is inappropriate viewing for the general public. The feature documents over 200 years of relations between Nepalese rebels and the Indian establishment. The director of the film, Ashish Srivastava and its Kathmandu-based producers, Group for International Solidarity, intend to launch a campaign to oppose the banning. Another film entitled, Village of Widows, which features Benazir Bhutto vehemently criticising the Indian state and the burning of an Indian flag in Kashmir has also been censored by the authorities.
Facebook admitted on 1 June that it has now blocked Pakistani users from accessing the page Everybody Draw Mohammed Day. A company spokesperson claimed the restrictions were placed “out of respect for local rules”. Pakistan temporarily banned Facebook website on May 19, Bangladesh banned the site on 29 May because of the page, and it is know expected the company will block it for the Bangladeshi government as well.