1. To understand why net-neutrality is crucial to India, the first thing to grasp is that the internet is an integral part of our democracy - it is as integral and as crucial as the right to vote.
2. Net-neutrality allows hundreds of millions of ordinary people/voters to get their voice heard - the internet ensures that not only the rich and powerful are heard.
3. If we lose net neutrality, an essential aspect of democracy will be destroyed. For example, a rich person's or a big-organisation's website will be able to pay to ensure that 10 pages of their website will be downloadable in one second - but for those who can't pay, their pages will be excruciatingly slow at the rate of one page every 10 seconds.
4. Consequently, if net-neutrality is stopped in India, the voice of the rich and powerful will be 100 times more likely to be heard than the voice of the ordinary Indian.
5. A simple election analogy will make this clear: removing net-neutrality is like favouring rich candidates by ensuring that for every vote cast in favour of a rich candidate, the electronic voting machine counts 100 votes - while for every vote cast for a poorer candidate, the electronic voting machine counts one vote.
6. Net-neutrality is as important as one-person-one-vote.
7. It is the open internet that has democratized the world. Net neutrality is a necessary condition for this world to remain flat, free and open.