Over 500 arrested in Kashmir clampdown, as India tells Pakistan revoking autonomy is an ‘internal affair’
Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol during curfew in Srinagar, Kashmir. Photo: EPA-EFE. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.
SRINAGAR, Aug 8, 2019, SCMP. More than 500 people have been rounded up in the latest crackdown in Kashmir, which has been on edge since India revoked its autonomy, reports said on Thursday. University professors, business leaders and activists were among the 560 people taken to makeshift detention centres – some during midnight raids – in the cities of Srinagar, Baramulla and Gurez, the Press Trust of India and the Indian Express reported according to the South China Morning Post.
The detentions came as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was set to address the nation later on Thursday to explain his Hindu nationalist government’s decision to revoke the seven-decade long special status of the region through a presidential decree.
Parliament also passed legislation dividing the disputed region – which has experienced an armed rebellion against Indian rule since 1989 – into two territories to be governed directly by New Delhi.
Tens of thousands of Indian troops have enforced a strict curfew, which includes no internet or phone services, and are allowing only limited movement on streets usually bustling with tourists flocking to the picturesque Kashmir valley.
Experts warn that the valley is likely to erupt in anger at the Indian government’s shock unilateral move once the restrictions are lifted, which could come as soon as the Muslim festival of Eid on Monday.
India’s aviation security agency on Wednesday advised airports across the country to step up security as “civil security has emerged as a soft target for terrorist attacks” on the back of the Kashmir move.
The developments in Kashmir have irked India’s nuclear-armed neighbour Pakistan, which on Wednesday said it was downgrading diplomatic ties with Delhi and would expel the Indian ambassador.
India on Thursday urged Pakistan to review the decision.
“The government of India regrets the steps announced by Pakistan yesterday and would urge that country to review them so that normal channels for diplomatic communications are preserved,” the Indian foreign ministry said.
“The recent developments pertaining to Article 370 are entirely the internal affair of India,” it said.
“Seeking to interfere in that jurisdiction by invoking an alarmist vision of the region will never succeed.”
Islamabad has also vowed to take the matter to the United Nations Security Council.
Pakistan, which has a competing claim to Kashmir, has fought two wars with India over the scenic Himalayan region.
India has insisted the ending of autonomy for the region is an internal matter.
Share it
| 
| 
| 
| 
|