Kashmir History

In Pictures: Night raids, arrests amid Kashmir lockdown

Families recount raids in their houses at night to arrest young Kashmiris and the vigils they're holding to avoid them.

    by Saiba Varma & Sanna Irshad Mattoo            23 SEPT 2019

Street clashes between Indian security forces and protesters are common in Kashmir. SANNA IRSHAD MATTOO/AL JAZEERA

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir - The Himalayan region of disputed Kashmir, one of the most militarised regions in the world, is claimed by both India and Pakistan, who administer parts of it.

On August 5, India revoked the partial autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir state and divided the Muslim-majority state into two territories to be controlled by the federal government.

An additional 35,000 paramilitary troops, more than the 700,000 already stationed in the region, were flown into the Kashmir valley in advance of the revocation.

The unprecedented moves were justified as facilitating development in the troubled region, where a popular movement for independence from Indian rule or a merger with Pakistan has been going on for decades. 

In the weeks since Kashmir's lockdown, hundreds of elected politicians, activists and trade unionists have been imprisoned or put under "house arrest". Thousands of young men - including minors - have been arrested in night raids by the police, with many transported to jails outside the state.

Despite criticism from the human rights organisations, India says its actions are legal under the strict emergency laws in place in Kashmir since an armed rebellion began there in 1989.

The photos here show the effects of the forced disappearances of young men on their families and how the communities in Kashmir are responding to - and resisting - the crackdown.

Two Kashmiri men sit outside a shuttered phone-placement shop. Hours before scrapping of Kashmir's special status, the region’s seven million inhabitants were put under an unofficial curfew and an indefinite communications blackout. SANNA IRSHAD MATTOO/AL JAZEERA

Since August 5, more than 4,000 teenagers and young men have been arrested from their homes in the middle of the night under stringent detention laws. Many families are unaware of the whereabouts of their loved ones. SANNA IRSHAD MATTOO/AL JAZEERA

On August 19, the Dar family from Buchpora neighbourhood in Srinagar said their sons were arrested the night before. 'They scaled the walls, broke down the door and windows, and demanded to know who was inside. We showed them their [the sons'] identity cards, but they said they were stone pelters,' said the mother of the two men. 'We said: 'No, they are not stone pelters, you can ask the neighbours. If they are stone pelters, you can arrest them. They both work as labourers.' Then they started hitting me. They went upstairs and pulled the boys out of bed. One was pulled out by his hair. Then they hit my daughter and hit me as well. They beat up my sons too. And then they took them away. Initially we didn't even know where they took them.' SANNA IRSHAD MATTOO/AL JAZEERA

The same night, the police also arrested a teenager named Arif from another house in the neighbourhood. His mother showed blood stains on the wall of his room, where police had dragged him out. Neighbours reported that a total of 10 young men were arrested from Buchpora alone that night. Arif's mother said: 'The police hit Arif a lot and blood started oozing from his face. As I began to call people for help, one of the military guys hit me on the head. They broke the window panes, destroyed a lot of things. They didn't let us out of the house. They didn't let us shout for help. There was military on all four sides, surrounding us, we couldn't do anything. They just took him away.' SANNA IRSHAD MATTOO/AL JAZEERA

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sister of the two young men picked up from Buchpora said, 'My brothers stayed home, they didn't go out much. It's not just us saying this, you can ask anyone in the neighbourhood. They don't pelt stones, they are innocent. This is a good neighbourhood, there are no strikes, no stone throwing, nothing. I don’t understand why they are doing this to us. They're punishing us for no reason.' SANNA IRSHAD MATTOO/AL JAZEERA

Since the night raids and arrests began, a few neighbourhoods in downtown Srinagar have mobilised to protect themselves. Residents have erected barricades using leftover construction material, corrugated sheets, wheel barrows and any other objects they could find lying around. They dug trenches into the roads to stop police jeeps from entering. And warnings about possible raids are broadcast over the local mosque's loudspeaker. SANNA IRSHAD MATTOO/AL JAZEERA

Young men from the community keep vigil all night, taking turns to staying awake. Residents said the strategies have been helpful in staving off arrests, although not all neighbourhoods have been able to organise in this way. SANNA IRSHAD MATTOO/AL

Arif’s mother shows the damage to her house caused by the police raid. The Dars and other families wait for any news about their family members. Many young men who were arrested have been taken to jails hundreds of kilometres away from Kashmir. SANNA IRSHAD MATTOO/AL JAZEERA

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In Pictures: 100 days of crippling lockdown in Kashmir

Disputed Himalayan region reels under unprecedented security lockdown since its special status was scrapped in August.

by Mukhtar Zahoor                                                                       11 NOV 2019

Women in Indian-administered Kashmir have been at the receiving end throughout the decades old conflict, which has taken a toll on their daily lives. MUKHTAR ZAHOOR/AL JAZEERA

 

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir - On August 5, the Indian government withdrew Article 370 of India's constitution, which gave the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir partial autonomy.

The article, abrogated in a cloak-and-dagger manner by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, was followed by the imposition of a stringent curfew in the Himalayan region and the snapping of phone and internet connections.

On Tuesday, the worst lockdown in more than 70 years of conflict in Kashmir will enter its 100th day.

India's move also included bifurcating Jammu and Kashmir - India's only Muslim-majority state - into two "union" territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, to be administered by the federal government.

The abrogation of Article 370, done in the garb of uniting and strengthening the "territorial integrity of India", had been appearing in the BJP's election manifestos for several years.

The article granted Indian-administered Kashmir a degree of autonomy and restricted ownership rights to only natives of the disputed territory.

Residents now fear the law's abrogation is directed towards changing the region's demography.

Before the BJP government scrapped the article, thousands of soldiers were flown into the region, which is already one of the world's most militarised with nearly 700,000 troops on the ground. The security lockdown has forced limited-to-no movement of people in the Kashmir valley.

Although some communications restrictions, such as landline phones and post-paid mobile services, have been eased, the ban on internet, text messaging and prepaid mobile connections continues.

It is Kashmir's education sector that has been the worst hit as schools and colleges remain shut and students lose more than three months of their academic calendar.

Business is also affected as shopkeepers observe a self-imposed shutdown to protest India's move.

The 100-day lockdown also saw intermittent episodes of violence. Workers from outside Kashmir were killed by suspected rebels last month. Several grenade attacks, one of which killed a non-local civilian in Srinagar, were also reported from across the valley.

The following photographs depict the life of Kashmiri people suffering under the crippling 100-day lockdown.

Paramilitary troops being briefed at Srinagar's Lal Chowk area on the morning of August 5, the day the Parliament of India abrogated Article 370. Thousands of troops were sent in anticipation of protests from the Kashmiris against the decision. The disputed region was turned into a fortress with armed troops manning every nook and corner.    

MUKHTAR ZAHOOR/AL JAZEERA

Two days before India scrapped Article 370, panic gripped workers belonging to other Indian states after the federal government issued an advisory asking them as well as the tourists, Hindu pilgrims and students to vacate the region immediately. Amid confusion and chaos, thousands of non-locals thronged to a tourist reception centre in Srinagar in order to leave the valley. 'I am seriously not willing to leave this paradise on earth. I felt in love with Kashmir and its people the day I came here to earn livelihood,' carpenter Shubham Sarkar had said in August. 'Due to the situation, I have no other option but to return to my hometown.' MUKHTAR ZAHOOR/AL JAZEERA

Fearing mass protests, the curfew in Kashmir was tightened ahead of Eid al-Adha which was observed on August 11. 'In my lifetime, it was for the second instance when we Kashmiris have not been allowed to offer Eid prayers in a large gathering. Police had told area heads not to offer Eid prayers openly but in small groups in mosques,' resident Mohammad Ramzan said. MUKHTAR ZAHOOR/AL JAZEERA

 

Kashmiri women chanting pro-freedom slogans after Eid al-Adha prayers in Srinagar's Anchar. MUKHTAR ZAHOOR/AL JAZEERA

Bunkers and barricades were erected overnight in schools and colleges as troops occupied educational institutions across the valley. While the government announced their opening, parents said they were apprehensive about sending their children to schools amid the clampdown. MUKHTAR ZAHOOR/AL JAZEERA

There has been an unprecedented use of pellet guns by the Indian forces to curb protests in the Kashmir valley. Pellets fired upon unarmed protesters cause severe injuries and even blindness. Scores of people, including young boys and children, have been injured since August 5. MUKHTAR ZAHOOR/AL JAZEERA

Pelting of stones at downtown Srinagar's Habba Kadal area, which witnessed clashes between young boys and Indian security forces. Stone-pelting is the most common form of resistance in the region as young Kashmiris throw rocks at the forces and shout pro-freedom slogans. MUKHTAR ZAHOOR/AL JAZEERA

 

Parveena, mother of Aqib Rafiq Wani, a detained management student from Shopian, said: 'I get flashbacks of the night when my son was taken away by the Indian forces. I am waiting for the moment when he will be returned to me.' Wani was arrested on August 8 in a midnight raid at his house. He has been lodged in a jail outside Kashmir under the stringent Public Safety Act. Indian authorities arrested an estimated 13,000 boys in Jammu and Kashmir since August 5, according to a fact-finding report by a team of five women activists who visited the region recently. MUKHTAR ZAHOOR/AL JAZEERA

 

Ghulam Mohiuddin Mir, an apple orchard owner and resident of Kremshore village in Budgam district, claims he used to sell a box of apples for 1,000 rupees ($14) to an Indian trader. But after the abrogation of Article 370, he says that the cost halved. 'Our business is running in a huge loss since India abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir,' he said. MUKHTAR ZAHOOR/AL JAZEERA

Unidentified people destroyed apple boxes that were supposed to be sent outside the Kashmir valley. Such incidents were reported from several districts of Jammu and Kashmir state after a call to boycott trade with Indian businessmen. Three non-local truck drivers and five workers were shot dead in southern Kashmir last month. The apple industry is the backbone of Kashmir's economy and involves about 3.5 million 

people. MUKHTAR ZAHOOR/AL JAZEERA

Reports say there has been a rise in mental health-related problems among the residents in Kashmir region. Psychologists say the lockdown has caused mental health problems such as anxiety, stress, depression and other related issues. 

MUKHTAR ZAHOOR/AL JAZEERA

As education suffered, people in several parts of the Kashmir valley opened free tuition centres to help the students. 'I along with three of my friends requested several parents to send their wards to get education free of cost. It was challenging to persuade the parents that they will be taking the responsibility of the safety of their children," said Bilal Ahmad, a teacher from Charar-e-Sharif area. 

MUKHTAR ZAHOOR/AL JAZEERA

A Srinagar man receiving emergency treatment at a city hospital after he was hit by grenade splinters. Grenade attacks in Srinagar have occurred whenever the markets witnessed a rise in the movement of the people. 'I had gone to purchase essential goods when a grenade exploded in Srinagar's central market. I collapsed and found myself in the hospital,' said Mohammad Younis. Over a hundred people have been injured in recent grenade attacks in the valley. MUKHTAR ZAHOOR/AL JAZEERA

 

 

Kashmir’s tourism industry suffered a big jolt after Article 370 was scrapped. 'It has been a season of gloom and despair for us. Kashmir lost its status, we lost our business as well,' said boatman Abdul Rashid who works in Srinagar's iconic Dal Lake. 'The revival will take ages it seems.' M MUSHTAQ/AL JAZEERA

 

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