Day 70 of Kashmir Siege

Day 70 of Kashmir under siege : October 14, 2019

The Kashmir siege completes day seventy, life in Kashmir remains disrupted. To date, we now have five on the ground fact finding reports from members of the Indian civil society

Report 1, Report 2, Report 3, Report 4, Report 5

All reports have been uniformly disturbing, including mass detentions of elected officials, doctors, lawyers, and children as young as five; use of torture and lethal force against civilians; sexual violence and abuse by the armed forces; dwindling supplies of life-saving medical treatments and inability of patients to access hospitals; and curtailing of religious freedoms.

Kashmir’s tech industry, among other businesses, has been hit severely. The lock down continues to choke the economy of J&K with losses of more than a billion dollars in less than two months.

While most people remain disconnected with no phone or internet and students have had no access to schools for over two months, announcements of final exams to held in October and November have shocked the students who feel unprepared for exams upon which rest their future careers.

While the government claims that all is normal is Kashmir, it takes out advertisements in local newspapers asking people to resume normal lives

Although the Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police claims that there is no child under illegal detention in the state. The J&K Juvenile justice Committee has submitted its report to the Supreme Court. As per the police report, 144 juvenile, including children 9 and 11, were arrested since August 5. Detainees continue to be sent far away from home. Special rules and laws imposed on the people of Kashmir clearly demonstrate that Kashmir is not by any means part of that one nation, one constitution claim made by the government of India.

Media links

No place for Kashmir under one nation, one Constitution

Restrictions, detentions persist in Kashmir

The many emotions of Kashmir Amnesty International, India

In Kashmir a race against death with no way to call a doctor

The Valley without a curfew pass

India’s repression in Kashmir is not compatible with democracy

Poor medical access forcing locals to remove pellets at home

Women overlooked in Kashmir’s resistance against India’s iron fisted policy

Kashmir siege enters third month and normalcy remains a distant dream

Kashmir under siege a pictorial essay

Postcards to the PM: Students in solidarity with Kashmir