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Indian Order Leaves Kashmir Police Dispirited, Even Disarmed

Associated Press

   SRINAGAR, INDIA - Without weapons, riot gear or even clean uniforms, a
   group of police officers sat on the sidewalk outside a shopfront in
   Srinagar, the main city in the Himalayan region of Indian-administered
   Kashmir, weighing their allegiances.

   Thirty Kashmiri police officers who spoke on the condition of anonymity
   fearing retribution from their superiors told The Associated Press that
   they have been sidelined and, in some cases, disarmed by New
   Delhi-based authorities since the government of Prime Minister Narendra
   Modi downgraded Jammu and Kashmir from a state into two federally
   administered territories, tightening its grip on the restive region.

   The state police force was shocked by the sudden presidential order
   earlier this month that stripped Kashmir's constitutional autonomy,
   leading officers to feel spiritless, caught between the federal
   security forces they now report to and the friends and neighbors who
   question their loyalties like never before.

   "At the end of the day, we neither belong to our own nor are we trusted
   by higher authorities," said one officer.

   For years, Kashmiri police have been on the forefront of
   intelligence-gathering and profiling of activists and armed militants
   fighting Indian rule.

   Days before Kashmir's special status was revoked, tens of thousands of
   troops were deployed to the region. Authorities cut internet, cell
   coverage and even landline telephone service, leaving Jammu and
   Kashmir's 12.5 million people unable to contact each other or friends
   and relatives outside the state.

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