It has been reported that over 4,000 people have been arrested since the revocation of Article 370. The Indian Public Safety Act allows Indian security forces to hold people without sufficient evidence which has further inflamed tensions between the local populace and state authorities. Many residents said they plan to continue to protest despite the draconian measures implemented by the Modi government.

The lockdown in Kashmir belongs to a “longstanding tradition of exceptional legal practices,” according to Adnan Naseemullah, a senior Lecturer at King's College London. He added that these legal instruments can be used whenever the Indian state deems there is a security threat and they “do not to protect human rights”.

The region has had no access to mobile networks since the lockdown began, and in an unprecedented move, landlines and internet access have also been blocked. Kashmiris have been only able to contact their families under strict police supervision.

Samia explains that residents have to first register at a police station and share details of who they are contacting before they are allowed to make a phone call. “I would never want my family to go to a police station and wait for six hours to talk for 30 seconds where they are directed what to say,” she said. “I don’t want them to do that even though the silence is frustrating and punishing”.

Indian authorities were asked to comment, however, no response was given.

The communications blackout has prevented journalists within Kashmir from covering the crisis. Safwat Zargar, a journalist from Srinagar, said he was only able to communicate via an email exchange operated by the Indian authorities and could not answer questions. At least two journalists have been detained by police since the unrest began. The Indian government’s harassment of journalists is a “grave abuse of human rights," said Aliya Ifthikar from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

A smokescreen for targeting Muslims

There is much anxiety among residents that the Indian government is now planning to reconfigure the demography of India’s only Muslim-majority state. “Our main fear is Kashmiris will eventually be pushed out and Hindus take their place, consequently changing the very nature of the conflict,” said Samia, who lives and studies in Kashmir.

Previously, non-Kashmiris could not purchase land and permanently settle in the region. But those restrictions have been rescinded by India, along with the state’s law-making powers. The government claims the changes will open up Kashmir to development and fuel economic growth. But critics, like Indian author Siddhartha Deb, argue that this is a smokescreen.

"The BJP government led by Modi has, whenever convenient, disguised its violently sectarian and authoritarian agenda under the guise of economic development,” said Deb. “It is now into its second term of governance in India with little to show in the way of development but much to demonstrate on unending violence and, especially, the targeting of India's varied Muslim population.”

In the midst of the Kashmir crisis, Modi’s government has also deprived almost two million people living in Assam, most of them Muslims, of their citizenship. Authorities argue that illegal immigration necessitated the checks, but human rights groups say it has disenfranchised ethnic Bengalis who have lived in India their entire life.