Defying the stringent curfew which has entered seventh day and blatant Indian oppression, thousands of Kashmiris including women, children and elderly persons flooded the streets of Kashmir’s summer capital while chanting full-throat slogans of “return India” and “Indian Constitution unacceptable” against India’s revocation of Articles 370 and 35A which had secured special status for Jammu and Kashmir as the Muslim-majority state.
Sources familiar with the matter told the media that Indian forces used pellet guns and tear gas on the protesters, injuring dozens of them.
Amid strict travel restrictions and clampdown, India has been seeking to tighten its grip on the region with all public mobile, landline telephone and internet connections suspended from the last seven days in the Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir state.
Many people were still struggling to make contact with relatives to plan the holiday while India has cut off all communications after detaining more than 500 political leaders and activists, and enforced a curfew with tens of thousands of troops and policemen stopping movement of all residents.
Regional leaders have warned of a backlash in the region, where already tens of thousands of Kashmiris have lost their lives in decades of oppression by India.
Even supplies of food and medicines have been suspended by Indian authorities in many parts of the valley, leading to severe shortage of food for families who have been locked down in their homes.
Instead of resolving the dispute under United Nations Security Council resolutions, New Delhi on Monday scrapped the state’s right to frame its own laws and allowed non-residents to buy property there.
PROTEST GRAFFITI
Signs of Friday’s protest – the largest since India’s clampdown – were visible in the Soura area of Srinagar on Saturday.
Large rocks, wooden platforms, poles and boulders blocked the main street, and shops were shut. Protest graffiti, including calls for “Azad” – the Urdu word for freedom – were visible.
“Why is India doing this to us?” said an elderly man, Mohammed Sultan, whose truck that he used to transport goods and earn a daily wage was damaged. Pointing to his two young grandsons, he said: “How do I do my work and feed these people now?”
Another woman screamed: “Is this how Modi is going to bring development to us?”
