September 5, 2019
Kashmir remains under siege one month after Indian annexation
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Indian-administered Kashmir has completed a full month under the siege of brutal Indian forces where the unrelenting communications blackout and curfew have brought the normal life to a standstill with markets shut and public transport off the roads since August 5 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the special status of the disputed territory.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the occupied valley remains cut off from the rest of the world since Aug 5, the day India scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, due to the continued blockade and suspension of internet, mobile and landline phones and closure of TV channels.
Independent media reports suggest that the worst type of humanitarian crisis is looming large on the horizon of the occupied territory as people are facing acute shortage of food, medicines and other necessities. Hospitals have run out of medicine stock, while staff finds it difficult to turn up for duty due to curfew and strict restrictions.
The restrictions have also adversely affected the tourism industry, one of the main sources of livelihood, in the territory. Empty houseboats, vacant hotels, and deserted resorts present a gloomy picture of Kashmir’s tourism sector.
Sonamarg — considered as the gateway to Ladakh region — is a picturesque resort in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and usually remained crammed with visitors. However, the resort looks deserted with most of the hotels, restaurants and shops closed for business. A manager at a hotel said the only business they had was of a few local visitors putting up for a night or two.
According to official figures, 174000 tourists visited Kashmir in June, followed by 152000, including 3,403 foreigners, in July. However, officials in the Tourism Department said the department has no record of tourist arrivals in August.
Since August 5, over 11,000 political leaders and workers have been placed under house arrest or in jails, according to media reports. A good number of young boys as old as 12 years of age have been picked up by the Indian forces during night raids and shifted to unknown locations. The family members of the abducted youth are unaware of the fate and whereabouts of their dear ones.
'We too yearn for peace': Voices from a land under siege for a month
Aniket Aga, an academic and Chitrangada Choudhury, a journalist and researcher, visited Kashmir . Their report published on Tuesday September 3 in The Wire provides an insight into the situation:
“Troops manning haunted neighborhoods, streets and bridges, rows of shops and businesses shuttered in protest and fear, schools with no children, empty colleges with paramilitary at their gates, crippling restrictions on movement, along with the suspension of transport, postal, courier, mobile connectivity, internet services and most landlines marked the ‘normalcy’ of our week-long visit to Kashmir.
“Our trip to the Valley, a personal visit, had been planned long ago. Then, early in August, came the momentous developments of the government sending additional troops to what is now the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, imposing a lockdown, reading down Articles 370 and 35A, and breaking up and downgrading J&K into Union Territories. Friends and relatives discouraged us from going ahead with our trip. But we felt that at a time like this, when a veritable iron curtain had been drawn over the Valley, it was even more important to reach out to people there, especially since one of us comes from a Kashmiri Pandit family of mainland India.
“Through our time there, interactions with people were infused with pain, anger and mistrust. The terms we heard most often were “betrayal” and “feeling suffocated”. We witnessed resilience and dark humour trying to cope with basic insecurity. We also saw a lot of fear: most of the 50-odd people we met sought anonymity while voicing their anguish.
“There is no peace in our hearts, or in our minds. We are deeply perturbed about what the future will bring,” a visibly tormented apple farmer of a village in south Kashmir told us. “I urge the people of India to please understand our pain. We too yearn for peace.” His vacant-eyed, four-year-old daughter sat through our hour-long conversation, without speaking a word.
“All our leaders have been put under house arrest, or sent to prisons. Where should a people go? To whom should we voice our pain?” a young woman in downtown Srinagar asked one of us. “We have just been abandoned to grope in the dark,” another said.
“Mass detentions of thousands, including of children (as outlets like BBC, The New York Times and Theï¾ Quint have reported), and a dread of who authorities will seize next heighten people’s sense of being bereft. Multiple local journalists narrated stories of receiving threats from authorities or censorship, and of their newsrooms in mainland India, which prevented them reporting what they were seeing – a potent reality obscured by officials handing out data on the number of curfew passes issued.
“In all the conversations we had, appeals to notions of dignity, respect and autonomy reminded us that Kashmiris still think of Indians as fellow human beings, even in the current absence of reciprocity. People who raged at us about the offensive portrayal of Kashmir on Indian TV news channels, and the government’s zulm (‘injustice’), made it a point to invite us to share a cup of tea. Many, on discovering one of us is Kashmiri, turned the famed hospitality a notch higher. Almost everyone we met shook our hands warmly when we bid goodbye, or embraced us with love.
“We even witnessed occasional moments of empathy towards the forces. “Look at their strained faces,” a man in Srinagar said. “We are in a jail, and so are they.”
“We left the Valley feeling distressed about the state of the institutions that make our democracy. And about how readily, most of us now box the people of J&K and their tormented history, into a muscular narrative, set by the government, and Indian television news. Our return reminded us that our view remains unpopular.
“The presence of a million troops in the Valley, one for every seven people, is necessary counter-terrorism. TV channels belt out the narrative of a triumphant nation. Above all, many Indians accept this picture without questions, if not loud approval.
In all this, we seem to not care that in ‘integrating’ a people via an armed siege, in silencing their voices and dismissing their pain, we are also abrogating our own humanity.”
Among the 3,000 detained by Indian authorities in Kashmir, Children: Washington Post
Washington Post reported on August 29, some 3,000 people were detained in Kashmir since Aug. 5, according to an estimate from a senior local Govt official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.
It is unclear how many of the detainees were minors, but Washington Post has confirmed that at least five Kashmiris under the age of 18 were taken into detention in the weeks since the start of the crackdown.“There is an atmosphere of fear in every house,” said Nazia mother of Farhan Farooq who was detained by authorities. Nazia said she did not know why her son was detained.
“If they can pick up children, they can do anything.”India’s Home Affairs Ministry did not respond to requests for comment on the detention of children. The supervising officer at the Kashmir police station where Farhan’s family claims he was held declined to speak with The Post.
On the second day of their detention, he said, the two boys were asked to tell the police the whereabouts of another boy. When Junaid said he didn’t know the boy, an officer hit him with a wooden baton five times on his knuckles and palms, he recalled.
Raids and detentions were still underway this week. About 11:30 p.m. Saturday, Nisar Ahmad Mir, who is not related to Junaid, was awakened by a voice claiming to be a local cleric, asking him to open the gate to his home.
Half a dozen armed policemen jumped over the wall and said they were looking for his youngest son, 17-year-old Danish, he said. They whisked the boy away. 2 days later Danish had still not returned.
Meanwhile, the UK-based newspaper, The Independent, quoting victims of Indian brutalities in Kashmir said the troops beat the Kashmiri youth, black and blue. The paper maintained that the youth are stripped naked and then beaten with canes, gun-butts and kicks, besides being electrocuted. They are also forced to drink muddy water.
Allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir must be investigated: UK
The United Kingdom on Tuesday said any allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir since India revoked the Article 370 of the Constitution must be "thoroughly, promptly and transparently" investigated.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told MPs in the House of Commons in the first parliamentary session after a long summer recess that he had raised the concerns with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during a conversation on August 7 and that the UK will carefully monitor the situation in Kashmir.
"In relation to detentions, potential mistreatment and also the communications blackouts, I raised those issues with the Indian Foreign Minister.
While reiterating the British stance that the Kashmir dispute is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan, the minister however stressed that the human rights concerns made it an international issue.
"The issue of human rights is not just a bilateral issue for India or Pakistan or a domestic issue, it is an international issue... we expect internationally recognized human rights to be complied with and respected," he said.
Human Rights Watch: Restore Kashmir’s Internet, Phones
The Indian government’s lengthy shutdown of the internet and telephones in Jammu and Kashmir inflicts disproportionate harm on the population and should be immediately lifted, Human Rights Watch said on August 28. The disruption to services since August 5, 2019, has exacerbated an information blackout, stopped families from communicating, prevented people from accessing medical services, and disrupted the local economy.
International human rights law prohibits broad, indiscriminate, and indefinite restrictions on fundamental freedoms, including the right to free expression and to provide and receive information, Human Rights Watch said.
“The Indian government’s indefinite shutdown of phones and the internet in Kashmir is causing disproportionate harm and should be lifted immediately,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The restrictions are provoking anger, causing economic harm, and fueling rumors that are making a bad human rights situation even worse.”
In Srinagar, the summer capital, Kashmiris told Human Rights Watch that they were angry and worried about the impact of the security restrictions on daily life. “In effect, the government has placed all of us in prison,” a businessman said. “We cannot move freely. We cannot speak freely. Isn’t that prison?” One woman said she had heard her mother, who lives in another town, was unwell, but could not call her or meet her: “If you cannot call your family, meet your mother, how is that normal?”
A government doctor held a protest in Srinagar, saying that shutting the internet was preventing people, particularly the poor, from obtaining government health insurance, since it is linked to individual digital cards that need to be swiped to retrieve medical records. He was arrested, according to media reports.
The extended and broad shutdown of the internet affects essential activities and services, including emergency services and health information, mobile banking and e-commerce, transportation, school classes, reporting on major crises and events, and human rights investigations. The economic policy think tank Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations reported that the 24 shutdowns of mobile internet services in Jammu and Kashmir state in 2017 cost the state $223 million.
International human rights law, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), protects the right of people to freely seek, receive, and provide information and ideas through all media, including the internet. Security-related restrictions must be law-based and a necessary and proportionate response to a specific security concern.
On August 22, United Nations experts issued a joint statement on Jammu and Kashmir that, “The shutdown of the internet and telecommunication networks, without justification from the Government, are inconsistent with the fundamental norms of necessity and proportionality.” The UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, David Kaye, has said that necessity requires showing that shutdowns would achieve their stated purpose, which in fact they often jeopardize.
US congress members express deep concern about the situation in Kashmir
US senator and presidential contender Bernie Sanders said on Sept 1, that he was “deeply concerned” about the situation in Kashmir. Calling India’s actions “unacceptable”, US Senator said that the communication blockade in the state must be immediately lifted.
Sanders also urged US administration to “speak out boldly” in support of a UN-backed peaceful resolution in Kashmir.
“India’s action (in Kashmir) is unacceptable and the communications blockade must be lifted immediately, and US Govt must speak out boldly in support of international humanitarian life and in support of a UN-backed peaceful resolution,” Sanders said while addressing a gathering at Islamic Society of North America’s (ISNA) Convention in Houston.
US Senator also said that the crackdown “in name of security” acts as a barrier for the public to get access to medical care. “Many doctors in India have acknowledged that the Indian Govt restrictions on travel are threatening the life-saving care that patients need,” Sanders said.
Weeks after India ended the special status for Jammu & Kashmir and reorganized it into two Union Territories, attention on the issue persists in Washington, with many members of the U.S. Congress entering the fray.
“I am excited to see so many members joining us in calling attention to what is happening in Kashmir. Please continue to call your members and ask them to speak up. We expect openness from India,” Representative Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, tweeted, referring to a comment from Ted Lieu, a California Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Earlier in the week, Mr. Lieu had tweeted that he had heard from his constituents that they were unable to reach their families in Kashmir.
“Democracies like India should not be engaging in a communications blackout that has lasted over three weeks. We need de-escalation, not the hiding of what’s happening,” Mr. Lieu had said on Twitter, referring to a tweet from Representative Don Boyer, a Virginia Democrat.
‘Kashmir turned into giant prison camp’: Arundhati Roy
On the Indian Independence Day (August 15), the New York Times has published an award-winning Indian author Arundhati Roy’s scathing rebuke of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s lockdown of Kashmir.
As India celebrates her 73rd year of independence from British rule, she stated, “… it looks very much as though our government has gone rogue” by turning “Kashmir into a giant prison camp. Seven million Kashmiris were barricaded in their homes, internet connections were cut and their phones went dead.”
What India has done in Kashmir over the last 30 years is unforgivable. An estimated 70,000 people, civilians, militants and security forces have been killed in the conflict.
Amid vulgar celebrations – misogyny on the internet and the statement of the chief minister of the state of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, that Indians can bring girls from Kashmir – “the loudest sound, however, is the deathly silence from Kashmir’s patrolled, barricaded streets and its approximately seven million caged, humiliated people, stitched down by razor wire, spied on by drones, living under a complete communications blackout,” she wrote.
Roy continued by saying that today Kashmir is one of the most or perhaps the most densely militarized zone in the world. More than a half-million soldiers have been deployed to counter what the army itself admits is now just a handful of “terrorists.”
“If there were any doubt earlier it should be abundantly clear by now that their real enemy is the Kashmiri people. What India has done in Kashmir over the last 30 years is unforgivable. An estimated 70,000 people, civilians, militants and security forces have been killed in the conflict. Thousands have been “disappeared,” and tens of thousands have passed through torture chambers that dot the valley like a network of small-scale Abu Ghraibs,” her op-ed read.
The article further stated that Narendra Modi’s hard-line approach in his first term exacerbated the violence in Kashmir – a suicide bomber killed 40 Indian security personnel. “Now two months into Narendra Modi’s second term,” she said, “his government has played its most dangerous card of all. It has tossed a lit match into a powder keg. If that were not bad enough, the cheap, deceitful way in which it did it is disgraceful. In the last week of July, 45,000 extra troops were rushed into Kashmir on various pretexts.”
“When it [lockdown] ends, as it must, the violence that will spiral out of Kashmir will inevitably spill into India. It will be used to further inflame the hostility against Indian Muslims who are already being demonized, ghettoized, pushed down the economic ladder, and, with terrifying regularity, lynched. The state will use it as an opportunity to close in on others, too — the activists, lawyers, artists, students, intellectuals, journalists — who have protested courageously and openly,” she continued.
While alerting of dangers that can come from many directions, she said, the most powerful organization in India is the far-right Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or the R.S.S., with more than 600,000 members including Narendra Modi and many of his ministers, has a trained “volunteer” militia, inspired by Mussolini’s Black Shirts. With each passing day, she said, the R.S.S. tightens its grip on every institution of the Indian state, adding, in truth, it has reached a point when it more or less is the state.
“If Kashmir is occupied by security forces, India is occupied by the mob,” she stated.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Chief Editor of the Journal of America (www.journalofamerica.net) email: asghazali2011 (@) gmail.com
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab
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