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Indian Kashmir Curfew Imposed Ahead of Revocation Anniversary

Anjana Pasricha

   NEW DELHI - Indian authorities have imposed a curfew in
   Indian-controlled Kashmir a day ahead of the first anniversary of
   revocation of the region's partial autonomy. Authorities took action to
   prevent violent protests against a move that analysts say has deepened
   alienation in India's only Muslim majority territory.

   Razor wires and steel barricades blocked roads in the Kashmiri capital
   Srinagar on Tuesday, markets were shuttered and soldiers speaking into
   megaphones patrolled streets, asking people to stay home.

   The two-day security lockdown was imposed in response to information
   about protests planned by anti-India groups to mark August 5 as "Black
   Day," according to Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, a civil administrator in
   Kashmir.

   In the surprise move last year, India stripped its Jammu and Kashmir
   state of its special status and split it into two federally ruled
   territories. India said this would help restore peace and development
   to a region that lies at the heart of a conflict with Pakistan and has
   been wracked by a violent separatist insurgency since 1989.

   But a year after Indian Kashmir faced the harsh security clampdown,
   there is little semblance of normalcy in the restive Himalayan valley,
   according to political analysts and rights groups.

   "The very fact that they have imposed a curfew speaks of their own lack
   of confidence about the situation," points out Noor Ahmad Baba, a
   professor of political science at Kashmir University. "There is deep
   resentment and frustration has been growing at the lack of any
   responsive system of governance. It has pushed us further away. We are
   still under various types of restrictions."

   Scores of separatist and mainstream political leaders and activists who
   were arrested remain in detention, including one of the state's former
   chief ministers, Mehbooba Mufti.

   High speed internet is still banned, making life especially difficult
   as the region copes with the coronavirus pandemic, according to
   residents and local journalists.
   Human Rights Watch Tuesday said India continues to "impose harsh and
   discriminatory restrictions" on Muslim-majority areas in Jammu and
   Kashmir.

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