Indian military siege of IOK enters 126th day

SRINAGAR; In occupied Kashmir, unabated military siege and lockdown continued to affect the daily life in the Kashmir Valley and parts of Jammu region on 126th straight day, Sunday.

A sense of fear prevails among the local population due to the imposition of restrictions under Section 144 in the territory. Shops and other business establishments are mostly closed and educational institutions and offices wear a deserted look as mark of people’s disobedience against Indian occupation, particularly anti-Kashmir steps taken by India on August 5.

The suspension of internet, text messaging and prepaid mobile services continues to haunt almost

all segments of the society including students, businessmen, doctors and patients.

Senior Congress leader and former Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said that the freedom was being denied to 75 lakh people in the Kashmir valley. P Chidambaram addressing a press conference in Channai after release from Delhi prison dubbed the Indian government “retrograde”.

A bipartisan resolution has been introduced in the US House of Representatives asking India to end the restrictions on communication and mass detentions in Jammu and Kashmir.

In the days leading up to August 5 and the scrapping of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the Valley witnessed the highest deployment of Indian forces, since then, in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) on Sunday.

By August 5, nearly 430 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) were deployed in the occupied territory, including personnel from the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB and CISF, Kashmir Media Service reported.

According to a report, the normal deployment in the Valley is about 200 CAPF companies in addition to Indian Army and Police. Each company has about 100 personnel.

The deployment of almost 230 companies was done in the months leading up to August 2019 in the name of security for the panchayat and urban local body elections held in September 2018, followed by preparations for Lok Sabha elections in May 2019 and then the Amarnath Yatra.

Post-August 5, the CAPF deployment increased to 653 companies. “There is, since August 5, a stringent day and night deployment throughout Kashmir,” the report said. The report quoting top security officials said that this year’s military presence as on date surpasses deployment in Kashmir in the 1990s.

Separating numbers for each force — CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB and CISF — was not always possible since most of the deployment is being done without written orders.