The Guardian - 07.08.2019

Section:GDN 1N PaGe:18 Edition Date:190807 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 6/8/2019 20:57 cYanmaGentaYellowbl

• The Guardian Wednesday 7 August 2019

18

Rebecca Ratcliff e

Delhi

W

hen Gauhar

Siraj woke on

Monday he

realised that

something

was about to

happen. He had gone to Kashmir

for a wedding, and tension had

been building all week. Then in the

morning: “Bam – there is a curfew,

internet is cut, telephone lines are

snapped, you can’t make any kind

of communication.” Outside, access

to main roads in Srinagar, the largest

city in Indian-administered Kashmir

had been blocked.

Hours later India’s government

announced the most radical change

any government has suggested

for Kashmir since the state joined

the Indian union: it would revoke

Kashmir’s special status and split it

in two. The move incensed Pakistan,

which also claims Kashmir, and

Rebecca Ratcliff e

Delhi

Pakistan has vowed it will take any

measure necessary to “stand by”

people in Kashmir, where an unprec-

edented communications blackout

continues a day after the Indian gov-

ernment said it would revoke the

territory’s special status and divide

it in two.

Landline connections and internet

and mobile coverage in the territory

were all suspended yesterday, while

prominent political leaders who

oppose the Indian government’s move

were reportedly arrested.

At least six people have since been

injured in protests, according to

sources quoted by Agence France-

Presse, with travellers returning

from Srinagar, Kashmir’s biggest city,

reporting that they had heard gunfi re

and other weapons being fi red.

The Indian government announced

on Monday that it would drastically

change Kashmir’s relationship with

Delhi, removing the autonomy the

territory was granted in exchange

for joining the Indian union after

independence in 1947. It also said it

would divide the state of Jammu and

Kashmir in two.

The announcement prompted

anger from Pakistan, which also claims

Kashmir and has fought two wars with

India over the territory. “The Pakistan

army fi rmly stands by the Kashmiris in

their just struggle to the very end,” said

the country’s army chief, Gen Qamar

Javed Bajwa. “We are prepared and

shall go to any extent to fulfi l our obli-

gations in this regard.”

Highlighting the diplomatic turmoil

caused , Beijing also said it opposed the

decision to revoke Kashmir’s special

status, saying it undermined China’s

territorial sovereignty.

The contested region is divided

between India, which controls Kash-

mir Valley and the Hindu-dominated

region around Jammu city; Pakistan,

which controls territory in the west;

and China, which holds a thinly pop-

ulated area in the north.

On Monday, Washington called for

calm along the border that divides

Kashmir between Pakistan and

India. The US state department also

expressed concern at reports that pol-

iticians had been detained, and urged

“discussion with those in aff ected

communities”, while Human Rights

Watch pressed the security forces to

act with restraint.

“Considering previous violations

by troops, including excessive use of

force against proteste rs, and the lack

of accountability despite allegations

of torture and extrajudicial killings,

we hope that the government will ask

security forces to be rights-respect-

ing,” said Meenakshi Ganguly , South

Asia director for Human Rights Watch.

One man, who asked not to be

named, said he was travelling back to

Srinagar from Delhi yesterday, because

he was concerned about his family. His

father, a businessman who is involved

with a small civil society group, had

been detained, he said.

“I have always identifi ed myself

as an Indian but today I am ashamed

of that identit y,” he said. He has not

been able to contact his relatives since

the order revoking Kashmir’s special

status was announced on Monday.

Another man, who returned to

Delhi yesterday, told AFP that he heard

intermittent gunfi re and other weap-

ons being fi red and soldiers shouting

during the night, and saw government

troops deployed “every fi ve steps”.

Sanna Wani, a Kashmiri poet, said

even people citing medical emer-

gencies were unable to get past

checkpoints. “Next to us, a man was

holding his brother’s X-rays, begging

to be let through to take his brother to

surgery scheduled for today. Another

woman, desperately needing to refi ll

her child’s medicine. None of them

were allowed to get through.”

Two former chief ministers,

Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah ,

as well as Sajjad Lone , the chairman of

the People’s Conference party, have

reportedly been arrested.

Following a visit to Kashmir, the

n ational security adviser, Ajit Doval ,

was quoted by Indian media saying

that the situation was normal and that

there was “no agitation”. Critics say the

blackout suggests the ruling Bharatiya

Janata party fears the announcement

will provoke unrest in Kashmir, where

an insurgency against Indian rule has

continued for three decades.

Journal Leader comment Page 2 

Journal Kapil Komireddi Page 5 

Leaks and lockdowns

Apprehension in contested

state ahead of Delhi’s move

Gilgit

Lahore Amritsar

Srinagar

Jammu

Pakistan India

China

Controlled

by China

Line of

control

Siachen glacier

Controlled

by Pakistan

Controlled by India

200 miles

200 km

Pakistan vows to take

‘any measure necessary’

to stand by Kashmir

Quick guide

Who controls Kashmir?

The region has been under dispute

since India and Pakistan came into

being in 1947. Both claim it in full,

but each controls a section of the

territory, separated by the “line of

control ” based on a ceasefi re border

established after war in 1947-48.

China controls another part in the

east. India and Pakistan have gone

to war three times over Kashmir.

How did the dispute start?

After the partition of colonial India ,

small, semi-autonomous “princely

states ” were folded into India or

Pakistan. The Maharajah of Kashmir

dithered until tribal fi ghters entered

from Pakistan. Kashmir asked Delhi

for assistance, signing a treaty

in exchange for the intervention

of Indian troops. In its 1950

constitution, India granted Kashmir

a large measure of independence.

But since then it has eroded some

of that, repeatedly interven ing to

rig elections , and dismiss and jail

democratically elected leaders.

What is Kashmir’s special status?

Kashmir’s special status has been

in place since 14 May 1954. Under

Article 370, the state was given a

separate constitution, a fl ag and

autonomy over all matters except

for foreign aff airs and defence. An

additional provision, Article 35a,

prevented people from outside the

state buying land in the territory.

What do the militants want?

There has been an armed insurgency

against Indian rule for three

decades. Since 2004, locals have

made up more of the fi ghters.

Michael Safi and Rebecca Ratcliff e

▲ Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa said the

Pakistani army supported Kashmir

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