DW exposes India's claims of 'all is well' in occupied Kashmir
Last updated on: 16 September,2019 09:51 am
"We don't believe India," Kashmiris told Deutsche Welle.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Deutsche Welle or DW, a German state-owned public international broadcaster, has exposed Indian government and its state institutions’ blatant lies over occupied Kashmir.
Kashmiris spoke to DW, and revealed that Indian media reports the ongoing situation in the region as “all is well”, however the actual condition was in contradiction to it.
“We don’t believe India,” they told DW.
India-occupied Kashmir has been under a strict lockdown since August 4 after New Delhi revoked the region’s special status. A Kashmiri journalist has now been prevented by authorities from flying abroad, reported DW.
The Indian government decided to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its statehood and turn it into two territories directly governed by New Delhi.
The move touched off anger among Kashmiris. To suppress any unrest, authorities have cut all communications, imposed a curfew and deployed thousands of additional troops to a region which is already one of the most militarised in the world.
The suspension of communication services, including the internet and landline phones, has made it difficult for information to trickle out of Kashmir.
Despite the restrictions, reports suggest that people have repeatedly taken to the streets to protest against the government’s decision.
Importantly, several journalists were threatened and were facing risks of their lives while reporting the situation. They reported that media cells in occupied Kashmir were completely shut down and only dates were being updated on the published newspapers.
Prominent Kashmiris, including high-profile former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, have been detained by the authorities.
The government has repeatedly declined to provide a tally of how many people have been taken into custody. They said the "few preventive detentions" were made to avoid a "breach of the peace" in a region where rebels have been fighting Indian rule for decades.