Kashmir on the verge of burning, say Kashmiris as crackdown continues
Last updated on: 08 August,2019 06:04 pm
Mehraj Ahmed said whatever Indian govt has done, it is not right for them.
SRINAGAR (Dunya News/Reuters) - People in disputed Kashmir are fearful that the crisis in the Himalayan region is going to get worse with New Delhi holding a tight grip over movement and continuing suspension of telephone and internet services.
"I feel like Kashmir is on the verge of burning. I feel like whatever the government has done for us is not right for us," said local Mehraj Ahmed in main city of Srinagar.
Kashmiris see Modi’s decision to withdraw the special status as a breach of trust and opening the way to flooding their region with people from the rest of India, eventually altering the demographics of the territory.
Since Sunday, the government has shut down mobile networks, the internet and banned public gatherings in the largest city Srinagar after stripping the Muslim majority region of the right to make its own laws and lifting a decades-old ban on people from outside the state from buying property there. Thousands of paramilitary police have been deployed in Srinagar, schools shut and roads and neighbourhoods barricaded to prevent any untoward incident.
On August 5, the move by the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tighten control on Muslim-majority Kashmir had been widely expected to trigger conflict with Pakistan and reignite an insurgency that has already cost tens of thousands of lives.
The move has also raised tensions with Pakistan which claims Kashmir and has vowed to fight for the rights of the Kashmiri people. It said it would expel India’s ambassador and suspend bilateral trade with its arch-rival.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced, “We will call back our ambassador from Delhi and send back their envoy".
The reaction came as the government released a statement post NSC meeting, declaring Pakistan will suspend trade with India in a downgrading of diplomatic ties between the arch rivals. Islamabad also vowed to take the matter to the United Nations Security Council.
The committee had decided to review bilateral arrangements, take the matter regarding revocation of Article 370 and 35A to the United Nations, including the Security Council.