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SRINAGAR, India —
The boulevard along Dal
Lake ordinarily brims with
tourists, who come to bask
in the commanding views of
the snow-capped Zabarwan
mountains.
But for the last four days,
the thoroughfare has been
mostly empty and silent.
Tourists in this city of
sprawling gardens and col-
orful houseboats have fled —
leaving behind more than a
million residents, many hun-
kered in their homes and
seized with fear.
Srinagar is the summer
capital of what was the semi-
autonomous Indian state of
Jammu and Kashmir. Then
on Monday, the Indian gov-
ernment revoked the Mus-
lim-majority state’s dec-
ades-old special status and
constitution in a reorganiza-
tion that’s enraged local resi-
dents and neighboring Paki-
stan.
Jammu and Kashmir is
on the Indian side of the
larger disputed Kashmir re-
gion, a mountainous terri-
tory that clips together the
northern reaches of India
and Pakistan, two bitter nu-
clear rivals.
The constitutional
change downgrades Jammu
and Kashmir’s statehood to
a territory administered by
New Delhi. It also fulfills a
promise by Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s
Hindu nationalist party to
rein in a region that’s been
the site of decades of vi-
olence and opposition to In-
dian rule. Pakistan respond-
ed to the move Wednesday
by downgrading diplomatic
tieswith India and suspend-
ing bilateral trade. That
drew a rebuke from New
Delhi, which accused Islam-
abad of meddling with In-
dia’s internal affairs.
Caught in the middle of
the dispute are the 5.5 mil-
lion inhabitants of Jammu
and Kashmir, including resi-
dents of Srinagar who de-
scribed a city in total lock-
down.
A phone and internet
blackout rendered mobile
devices and landlines inop-
erable. A 24-hour curfew left
streets barren. Checkpointswith armed soldiers were set
up at seemingly every inter-
section. Residents pleading
to get through to buy food or
reach hospitals were often
cursed at and met with
threats of beatings by
troops.
“We have been in panic
mode,” said Huzaif Ahmed,
a university student who
rushed back to Srinagar af-
ter the blackout was intro-
duced. The curfew, however,
left him stranded at Sheikh
ul-Alam International Air-
port, which was inundated
with tourists and Indian mi-grant workers looking to
leave.
Nighttime clashes be-
tween residents throwing
stones and soldiers shooting
pellets have been reported.
A 17-year-old boy drowned in
a river Monday trying to es-
cape police, according to
HuffPost India.
News has been sparse.
Local media have been
blacked out. Only govern-
ment officials equipped with
satellite phones have been
given access to outside com-
munication. (This article
was transmitted from NewDelhi because of the internet
blackout in Kashmir.)
In interviews, soldiers in
the city said it was their first
deployment to Kashmir.
They brought with them ar-
mored vehicles, which
prowled Srinagar reminding
residents over loudspeakers
of the curfew.
As the international com-
munity called for calm, India
and Pakistan appeared to be
bracing for more tension.
Hundreds of Kashmiris have
reportedly been detained by
authorities in recent days.
Kashmir is India’s only Mus-
lim-majority state and the
lifting of its special status,
known as Article 370, means
the loss of constitutional
protections such as a pro-
hibition on outsiders buying
land or receiving govern-
ment jobs. That could pave
the way for Hindu settlers to
challenge Kashmir’s Muslim
population.
India and Pakistan have
fought two wars over the re-
gion and tensions were
again inflamed this year af-
ter 40 Indian paramilitary
troops were killed in a sui-
cide bombing there in Feb-
ruary. That was followed by
the first Indian airstrikes
on Pakistan in nearly 50
years.
Amid the worsening cli-
mate, Abid Khan, a
businessman in Srinagar,
said New Delhi’s decision to
revoke statehood will only
embolden residents to resist
India’s control.
“They can never sup-
press our voices,” he said.
“Even if they keep us under
curfew for months, we will
still fight.”
India is saying “it’s a new
morning,” he added, “but
they must know after this
there will only be darkness.”Special correspondent
Khan reported from
Srinagar and Times staff
writer Pierson from
Singapore.Fear, tension mount in Kashmiri city
Shut off from outside
world amid lockdown,
residents of Srinagar
are ‘in panic mode.’
By Ahmer Khan
and David Pierson
PARAMILITARY TROOPS check a bag during a 24-hour curfew in Srinagar, India. Residents pleading to get
through checkpoints to buy food or go to hospitals were often threatened with beatings by soldiers.Dar YasinAssociated Press‘They can never
suppress our
voices. Even if
they keep us
under curfew
for months, we
will still fight.’
—Abid Khan,
businessman in Srinagar,
referring to the government