SRINAGAR, India: Parts of India-administered Kashmir have been placed under lockdown and local politicians reportedly arrested as tensions intensify in the disputed region following a massive deployment of troops by the Indian government.
“As per the order there shall be no movement of public and all educational institutions shall also remain closed,” a statement by the government of Jammu and Kashmir, which is currently under the central rule, said on Sunday night.
The order said the indefinite security restrictions will be applicable in the main district of Srinagar.
Indian media reports said some pro-India leaders from the region, including former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, have been placed under house arrest.
The measures came after the Indian government moved 10,000 troops to the region last week, followed by an unprecedented order asking tourists and Hindu pilgrims to leave the Himalayan valley.
Residents fear New Delhi is planning to engineer “demographic changes” in India’s only Muslim-majority region by scrapping a law that prohibits outsiders from buying land in India-administered Kashmir.
Jammu & Kashmir: Security tightened in Srinagar in view of the imposition of section 144 CrPC from midnight 5th August. pic.twitter.com/qErNGidUDi
— ANI (@ANI) 5 August 2019
Concerns over Article 35A
Earlier on Sunday, former state Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah chaired a meeting of political leaders from the region, who issued a statement, warning “against any tinkering with the special status of the region” as guaranteed under Article 35A of the Indian constitution.
The statement said the region’s political parties “remain united … in their resolve to protect the autonomy and special status” of Kashmir.
Article 35A has been challenged by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its right-wing allies through a series of petitions in India’s Supreme Court.
Last month, a senior BJP leader hinted that the government was planning to form exclusive Hindu settlements in the region.
Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader, also issued a statement on Sunday, calling on Kashmiris to use “unity and brotherhood” to fight “India’s aggression”.
How ironic that elected representatives like us who fought for peace are under house arrest. The world watches as people & their voices are being muzzled in J&K. The same Kashmir that chose a secular democratic India is facing oppression of unimaginable magnitude. Wake up India
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) 4 August 2019
The latest spate of tensions began last week after India sent 10,000 more troops to what is already one of the most militarised regions in the world.
Nearly 700,000 Indian soldiers are deployed in India-administered Kashmir, where civilian protesters and armed rebels either want freedom or merger with Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday accused India of taking “new aggressive actions”, saying it could “blow up into a regional crisis”.
He called a meeting of the country’s national security committee to review the situation in Kashmir.
Tourists and students have scrambled to leave the picturesque region since the government said they should depart “immediately”, amid new intelligence about “terror threats” to a major Hindu pilgrimage in the region.
While the Indian military and the state government have highlighted the security risk, Kashmiri and opposition politicians in New Delhi are concerned the extra troops were deployed for other reasons.
Since mid-2018, Indian Kashmir has been under Delhi’s direct rule after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party withdrew support for its local partner and dissolved the local government.
There are fears Modi’s Hindu nationalist government could carry out a threat to scrap the region’s special status under the constitution.
Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/lockdown-in-indian-kashmir-as-thousands-more-troops-sent-11780894