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After spending 5 days in Kashmir, some thoughts on this thread. Kashmir right now is the closest we have to a totalitarian state.
Nothing is normal there. All the shops, barring chemists, fruit, veggie and milk stores, are shut. Curfew-like restrictions imposed everywhere. Public transport is still suspended. Srinagar resembles an abandoned ghost town. #KashmirStillUnderCurfew
While patients are coming to hospitals, access is very difficult, both in transport and communication. Concerned relatives are unable to contact patients. Elderly patients in far-flung areas are especially affected as they couldn’t call anyone during times of distress/emergency.
Benevolent neighbours had to walk miles to arrange transport to hospitals. Many complained that government health schemes that depended on the internet, like Ayushman Bharat, are not working properly.
Locals are bristling with anger. They are incensed by the daily misery of living in an open prison. Some said the UT status was more humiliating. "Here we were asking for independence, but they removed our statehood also," one of the stronger sentiments echoing among locals.
The mood, it seems, is also of defiant resilience. Locals told me even the poorest in Kashmir have some resources and stockpile to last a few months. While materially they say it won’t be a problem, emotionally any bond or sympathy towards the Indian state is finished.
In the absence of communication, people are sending letters and postcards through messengers since India Post is also suspended. Some local news channels are offering to telecast urgent messages from people to others, on the lines of a classified.
Long lines of worried relatives and parents throng internet cafes that have started STD and ISD facilities. But as more than one cafe owner told me, all the lines are being tapped by the local CID.
Journalists remain among the most affected due to the curb on communications. It's impossible to gather news in the absence of phone and internet. Only once the ban lifts will anyone know what actually transpired, how many died, were detained. The media black-out is terrifying.
The government-controlled media centre in Srinagar has five computers with a pitiable internet connection, meant to service hundreds of journalists. Takes hours waiting in line to send a dispatch, longer to send photos/videos. Again, journalists claim everything is monitored.
Read more about the dreadful state of media in Kashmir in this report by @geetaseshu and Laxmi Murthy from @NWM_India and Free Speech Collective. freespeechcollective.in/2019/09/04/new…
Kashmiri journalists face hostilities from security forces and the locals. Because the government does not confirm certain incidents of clashes or shootings, Kashmiri newspapers are unable to carry the reports, leading to the ire of the locals.
Kashmiris are unanimously furious with the national media. For good reason. The distortions being broadcast on these channels are the opposite of what locals see and experience. This makes it difficult for other mainland journalists, as they are also viewed with suspicion.
Multimedia journalists find it harder to report due to the intense scrutiny and restrictions. Unless you’re a nationalist media house, security personnel will not allow you to shoot, or will force you to delete the media. Happened to me as well.
That said, it’s much easier for a mainland journalist because at least the security forces don’t outrightly suspect you or threaten you to leave. There's still a window of opportunity to interact.
As with the imposition of this blockade, no one knows when it will be lifted. As one local told me, they are preparing for a long and harsh winter. All eyes are on October 31 when the JK Reorganisation Act will come into effect and the state will officially split into two UTs.
