IHK curfew enters 22nd day

ISLAMABAD: Authorities continued to impose a strict curfew and other restrictions in the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) on the 22nd consecutive day on Monday to prevent people from holding demonstrations against the revocation of the autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir by the Indian government.

According to the Kashmir Media Service, owing to severe blockade, people are facing acute shortages of essential commodities including baby food and life-saving medicines.

Hundreds of thousands of people are besieged and Jammu and Kashmir has become a big jail for its inhabitants. The Indian authorities have been maintaining a strict curfew in the valley since 5th August when the Narendra Modi government announced scraping of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Hundreds of thousands of Indian troops and police personnel deployed in every nook and corner of the territory are not allowing people to come out of their homes. Authorities also continue to impose information blockade as TV channels and internet links are snapped and restrictions on the media have been in place since 5th August.

Local newspapers cannot update their online editions, while majority of them cannot be printed due to curfew and other restrictions. The authorities have put almost all Hurriyat leaders, including Syed Ali Gilani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, under house arrest or in jails. Over 10,000 Kashmiris, including hundreds of political leaders and workers, have been detained.

Jails and police stations have run out of space and many detainees have been lodged in makeshift detention centres. A hotel in Srinagar being used as a makeshift detention centre has been declared a sub-jail. Around 50 pro-India political leaders are detained in the hotel.