Residents of Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) were running short of essentials on Tuesday as an unprecedented security lockdown kept people indoors for a ninth day.
India has imposed a near-constant curfew and a communications blackout as it tries to stave off a violent reaction to the government’s decision on August 5 to strip Kashmir of its autonomy.
The reaction to India’s unprecedented move has so far been largely subdued. But anti-India protests and clashes have occurred daily, mostly as soldiers withdraw from the streets at dusk. Though the scale of the lockdown is unprecedented, civil resistance to Indian rule is not uncommon in IHK, and young men have hurled stones and abuse at police and soldiers.
Indian troops patrolling the occupied region allowed some Muslims to walk to mosques to mark the Eidul Azha festival on Monday, and shops were opened briefly on previous days. The lockdown is expected to last at least through Thursday, India’s Independence Day.
Surveillance drones and military helicopters hovered over Srinagar, the region’s main city. On Sunday, soldiers stopped vehicles in the city’s main business hub, causing a traffic jam just as a low-flying drone passed by, according to Javaid Ahmed, a resident who said he witnessed the scene from a nearby building. He said he later saw the same scene broadcast on Indian TV channels. “That footage was used to say Kashmir was normal with everyone thronging the streets,” Ahmed said.
Kashmiris fear India’s move to put the region under greater New Delhi control will alter its demographics and cultural identity. India said its decision to revoke Kashmir’s special constitutional status and downgrade it from statehood to a territory would free it from separatism.
Dissidents have been fighting Indian rule for decades. Some 70,000 people have died in clashes between civilian protesters and Indian security forces since 1989. Most Kashmiris want either independence or a merger with Pakistan.
Pakistan has denounced the recent changes as illegal and has downgraded its diplomatic ties with New Delhi, expelled the Indian ambassador and suspended trade and train services.
An uneasy calm continued to prevail along the Line of Control in Azad Kashmir, where residents of Chakothi, a remote border town, said they were living in a state of uncertainty. “Solve the issue of Kashmir through talks or war but now solve it, as we are always the victim whenever there is any tension between Pakistan and India,” said Rubina Bibi, a 40-year-old housewife.
Jalal Hanif, a shop owner, said there had been no exchange of fire in Chakothi or elsewhere in Azad Kashmir since New Delhi imposed the changes. “But whenever Indian troops open fire, shells and mortars hit our bazaar and homes,” he said. Hanif said those who can afford have built bunkers to protect themselves.
In a statement Monday, the Foreign Office condemned Indian authorities for curtailing religious freedom during the Eid festival in the occupied territory.
“Restrictions and curtailment of this fundamental religious freedom of millions of Kashmiri Muslims constitutes a serious violation of applicable international human rights law, to which India is a party,” the statement read.
FO Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said that the occupied valley had been turned into a massive military prison and Kashmiris were prevented from offering the Eid prayers at Srinagar’s historical Jama Masjid.
He said complete communications blockade of telephone; landline and cellular and Internet services for over a week had also deprived Kashmiris of contacting their families and loved ones on this festive occasion. The spokesperson further added that these measures amounted to “collective punishment” on an industrial scale and violated all principles and precepts of human rights and humanitarian law.
