Residents could visit mosques but not able to call relatives on eighth day of crackdown

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Large congregations have been banned for the major Islamic festival of Eid in Indian-administered Kashmir, where an unprecedented communications block on landlines, mobile and the internet remained in place for an eighth day.

Residents have been allowed to visit their local mosque, according to Indian officials, but the communications block means they have been unable to call relatives.

Large congregations were banned in an apparent attempt to avoid anti-India protests.

A spokesperson for the Indian home affairs ministry said prayers had gone ahead peacefully in all local mosques in Anantnag, Baramulla, Budgam and Bandipore “without any untoward incident”.

Quick guide Kashmir Show Hide Who controls Kashmir? The region in the foothills of the Himalayas has been under dispute since India and Pakistan came into being in 1947. Both claim it in full, but each controls a section of the territory, separated by one of the world's most heavily militarised borders: the ‘line of control’ based on a ceasefire border established after a 1947-48 war. China controls another part in the east.

India and Pakistan have gone to war a further two times over Kashmir, most recently in 1999. Artillery, mortar and small arms fire are still frequently exchanged. How did the dispute start? After the partition of colonial India in 1947, small, semi-autonomous ‘princely states’ across the subcontinent were being folded into India or Pakistan. The ruler of Kashmir dithered over which to join until tribal fighters entered from Pakistan intent on taking the region for Islamabad. Kashmir asked Delhi for assistance, signing a treaty of accession in exchange for the intervention of Indian troops, who fought the Pakistanis to the modern-day line of control. In 1948, the UN security council called for a referendum in Kashmir to determine which country the region would join or whether it would become an independent state. The referendum has never been held. In its 1950 constitution, India granted Kashmir a large measure of independence. But since then it has eroded some of that autonomy and repeatedly intervened to rig elections and dismiss and jail democratically elected leaders. What was Kashmir’s special status? Kashmir’s special status, given in exchange for joining the Indian union, had been in place since 14 May 1954. Under article 370, the state was given a separate constitution, a flag, and autonomy over all matters except for foreign affairs and defence.

An additional provision, article 35a, prevented people from outside the state buying land in the territory. Many Kashmiris believed this was crucial to protecting the demography of the Muslim-majority state and its way of life. The ruling Bharatiya Janata party repeatedly promised to scrap such rules, a long-term demand of its Hindu nationalist support base. But analysts warned doing so would almost certainly ignite unrest. On Wednesday 31 October 2019, the government formally revoked Kashmir’s special status. The government argued that the provision had only ever intended to be temporary and that scrapping it would boost investment in Kashmir. Critics, however, said the move would escalate tensions with Pakistan – which quickly called India’s actions illegal – and fuel resentment in Kashmir, where there is an insurgency against Indian rule. What do the militants want? There has been an armed insurgency against Indian rule over its section of Kashmir for the past three decades. Indian soldiers and Pakistan-backed guerrillas fought a war rife with accusations of torture, forced disappearances and extra-judicial killing.

Until 2004, the militancy was made up largely of Pakistani and Afghan fighters. Since then, especially after protests were quashed with extreme force in 2016, locals have made up a growing share of the anti-India fighters. For Indians, control of Kashmir – part of the country’s only Muslim-majority state – has been proof of its commitment to religious pluralism. For Pakistan, a state founded as a homeland for south Asian Muslims, it is the last occupied home of its co-religionists.



Michael Safi and Rebecca Ratcliffe

“Jamia Masjid old town Baramulla witnessed approx 10,000 people offering prayers,” the spokesperson said on Twitter. It was not immediately possible to independently confirm the claim.

India’s foreign ministry shared photos of people visiting mosques, but a spokesman was not able to specify where the photos were taken within Jammu and Kashmir, which New Delhi downgraded from a state to two federal territories a week ago.

The Kashmir police chief, Dilbagh Singh, said people “have been asked to offer prayers locally”. Shanawaz Shah, a local resident, told AFP: “I can’t believe we are forced to be in our homes on this festival. This is the festival of joy and happiness.”

There is very little independent information about what is happening in Kashmir because of the communication blackout. Tens of thousands of troop reinforcements have flooded the main city of Srinagar and other Kashmir towns and villages.

Kashmir travel restrictions partly eased but phones and web still blocked Read more

Last week police reportedly opened fire and used teargas to break up 10,000 protestors in Srinagar, the region’s main city, which took place after curfew rules were temporarily eased to allow people to attend Friday prayers. An Indian home affairs ministry official denied there were protests of any more than 20 people. The BBC later released a video showing huge crowds marching through the streets of Srinagar, as well as police opening fire and using teargas.

Curfew rules were introduced in Kashmir on Monday last week, just hours before the government announced it would revoke the territory’s autonomy and rules that prevent outsiders from buying land. Many Kashmiris fear the move would alter the demography of India’s only Muslim-majority state and its traditions.

It is unlikely people will be able to carry out many of the usual celebrations for Eid-al-Adha, one of the biggest events of the year in Kashmir. Typically, residents visit hundreds of neighbours, relatives and friends door-to-door to offer the meat of a sacrificed sheep or goat.

The security lockdown appears to be aimed at avoiding a backlash in Kashmir, where most people oppose Indian rule, and is expected to last until Thursday, India’s independence day.

Restrictions on movement were briefly lifted again over the weekend, allowing people to visit shops, but reimposed on Sunday afternoon. On TV news, jeeps were shown driving around the region, telling people to return to their homes and shopkeepers to shut markets.

Associated Press contributed to this report