Section:GDN 1N PaGe:22 Edition Date:190812 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 11/8/2019 19:50 cYanmaGentaYellowb
- The Guardian Monday 12 Aug ust 2019
(^22) World
India ‘like Nazis’, says
Khan, as curfew in
Kashmir reimposed
Rebecca Ratcliff e Delhi
Shah Meer Baloch Islamabad
Agencies
The Pakistani prime minister, Imran
Khan, has likened the Indian govern-
ment to Nazis, warning that global
inaction over Kashmir would be the
same as appeasing Hitler.
His comments came as authori-
ties in Indian-administered Kashmir
reportedly reimposed some curfew
rules in parts of the territory, follow-
ing an easing of restrictions in Srinagar,
the region’s main city, which had
allowed people to visit shops over the
weekend and attend Friday prayers.
TV news showed video footage of
4x4 vehicles fi tted with loudspeak-
ers yesterday telling people to return
to their homes and shopkeepers to
shut their markets. Landlines, mobile
phones and the internet all remained
shut down.
It was not clear if people would
be allowed to leave their homes for
today’s Eid al-Adha festivities , one of
the biggest celebrations of the year.
The state has been in lockdown
since last Monday, when the Indian
government announced it would
revoke the territory’s autonomy and
rules that prevent outsiders from
buying land. Many Kashmiris fear
the move will alter the demography
and traditions of India’s only Muslim-
majority state.
Despite heavy security, hundreds
of people protested in Srinagar yes-
terday as Khan tweeted: “Attempt is
to change demography of Kashmir
through ethnic cleansing. Question
is: Will the world watch & appease as
they did Hitler at Munich?”
He added that the “ideology of
Hindu Supremacy, like the Nazi Aryan
Supremacy”, would not stop in Kash-
mir but would lead to “the suppression
of Muslims in India & eventually lead
to targeting of Pakistan”.
Khan has vowed to lobby heads of
states and take his complaints to the
UN. He telephoned the Iranian presi-
dent, Hassan Rouhani, yesterday “as
part of his outreach to world leaders
on the Kashmir situation”, according
to a statement issued by his offi ce.
Rouhani was quoted as saying that
Kashmir’s Muslims “must be able to
use their legal rights and interests to
be able to live in peace”.
Ufra Mir, a psychologist, said: “This
fear of uncertainty and this sense of
not knowing what’s going to hap-
pen – this is what is really stressing
people out, giving them anxiety and
panic attacks.” Over the past week she
has been counselling people through
telephone calls, social media and a
WhatsApp group.
Many of those unable to contact
their families are students away from
Kashmir for the fi rst time, she said.
“They were supposed to go back
home but now they don’t even know
if they should. A lot of them have run
out of money.”
Mir fl ew back yesterday to support
her family. “I don’t know the space I
will be going back to. I defi nitely know
that it won’t be the same,” she said.
A few in Kashmir have managed
to secure access to a working phone
to reassure family members. Mir
Mushtaq, who works in Delhi, said that
his relatives called three days ago. “My
mother was consistently crying. She
asked me to come there and be with
her,” he said.
Normally, he would spend Eid with
his family, distributing the meat of a
sacrifi ced goat door to door in Pul-
wama, where he would visit between
100 and 180 families. He decided to
stay in Delhi to raise awareness. “My
motherland is in danger. What will I do
there, lock myself in a room?”
The communication shutdown and
curfew in Kashmir, which prevented
people from leaving their homes
for almost fi ve days last week, were
intended to stop unrest, according to
the government.
Restrictions on movement were
lifted for the fi rst time on Friday to
allow people to attend local mosques
for prayers. Afterwards, police report-
edly opened fi re and used teargas to
break up demonstrations of at least
10,000 people who took to the streets
to protest against Delhi’s actions.
An Indian home aff airs ministry offi -
cial denied the reports, and said there
had been only a few stray protests of
no more than 20 people. However,
the BBC released a video appearing to
show huge crowds marching through
the streets of Srinagar, as well as police
opening fi re and using teargas.
Delhi’s decision to scrap Kashmir’s
special status not only faces major
resistance in the territory, but has also
escalated tensions with Pakistan and
has been condemned by China.
Pakistan said that with the sup-
port of China it would take up India’s
actions in Kashmir with the UN secu-
rity council and that it may approach
the UN human rights commission over
what it has described as the “geno-
cide” of the Kashmiri people.
Pakistan expelled the Indian high
commissioner last week and halted
trade. The country’s army chief
warned that his forces would take any
action to stand by Kashmiris.
The Indian prime minister, Naren-
dra Modi, has insisted that the removal
of Kashmir’s special status would bring
investment to the region and rid the
state of terrorism.
Dozens may have died after Typhoon Lekima
hit the coast of Shanghai, triggering a landslide,
shortly before 2am yesterday. At least 30
people were confi rmed dead and 20 were
missing, with more than 1 million people
evacuated and 36,000 fi refi ghters on standby.
It is the ninth typhoon to hit China this year.
Typhoon hits China
▲ Protesters in Srinagar at the weekend PHOTOGRAPH: DANISH SIDDIQUI/REUTERS
▼ Residents in Taizhou strugg le to
salvage a car after a tree collapsed
▲ A Spring Airlines aircraft is secured
as Typhoon Lekima approaches
▼ Chinese soldiers evacuate people in
Linhai and, below, police in Zhoushan
help residents towards higher ground
PHOTOGRAPHS:
ZHEJIANG DAILY PRESS
GROUP/GETTY IMAGES;
YU XING; WANG GANG/
CHINA NEWS SERVICE;
XINHUA/EYEVINE
РЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS