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| What do Kashmiris themselves say about the government's claim of 'peace' in Indian-administered Kashmir? |
After the abrogation of Article 370 in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, an era of peace and prosperity has begun. The situation in the area is normal and the daily strikes and stone pelting have completely stopped.
The Union government has filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court in support of the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, claiming that
In this affidavit, the government has also claimed that in the last four years, not only the situation in Kashmir has improved, but extremist activities have reduced by 45%.
From August 2, a daily hearing will be held on the petition seeking the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, in which the court will decide whether the government's decision was by the provisions of the Constitution.
But before that, the Home Ministry filed a 19-page affidavit in the Supreme Court in which it stated through 40 points that it wants to end the special status granted to the state in 2019 and divide it into two Union Territories. It has helped a lot and things have become much calmer and 'normal' than before.
"What the government is calling peace is the silence of the people which has been done by intimidation"
From June to September last year, I spent three months in Kashmir as a reporter and one thing I saw, as the government claimed, was that from the downtown area of Srinagar to Lal Chowk, Shopian, From Kulgam to Pulwama, many districts including South Kashmir are not showing any strike, no closure of business has been announced.
A large number of tourists are seen on the streets of Srinagar and government officials also confirm that tourism has broken all records in Kashmir after the lockdown.
But whatever the case may be, we asked several Kashmiris to find out how they view the claims made by the government in the affidavit.
A man from Ganderbal district, bordering Srinagar, told us on condition of anonymity, “What the government is calling peace is the silence of the people, the silence that has been enforced by intimidation. Anyone who directly criticizes Lt Governor Raj, that person is immediately called to the police station.
If everything is normal then why is Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under detention? Why are there soldiers everywhere?
He says, "The main reason why the strike and shops are not closed is that the Hurriyat office is locked." Hurriyat leaders today are either in jail or under house arrest even after so many years, Hurriyat used to call for strikes mostly but it has been almost done away with.
They ask that if everything is normal then why Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is being detained. Why is there such a strict blockade of military personnel everywhere?'
"Many people still think we are being held captive."
In an interview given to the BBC in 2022, Manoj Sinha, the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, said that no separatist leader was under house arrest, but when the BBC found out the truth of this claim, The situation turned out to be different.
Even today, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was not allowed to leave the house and go to the mosque.
With hardly any human rights institutions left in Kashmir, in September 2021, prominent Kashmiri activist Khurram Parvez was arrested by the NIA and booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act i.e. UAPA 43(2). (b) was alleged in the same section. Parvez has been in jail for almost two and a half years.
A 28-year-old living in the downtown area of Srinagar says the situation on the ground is not what the central government is trying to portray.
He says that the situation in Kashmir can be called normal only when everyone has the same thinking. Many people still feel that we are being held captive. There is unemployment. If you go on any road, there will be a large number of security forces. In the name of security, you are stopped, vehicles are stopped, ambulances are stopped. If the government calls it normal, then fine. But for us, this is not a normal situation.
Regal Chowk is a busy market area in Srinagar, a 42-year-old shopkeeper who runs his shop in this square believes that the environment is calm, and there are no strikes anymore, but it would not be right to associate this environment with Article 370.
"We are happy that now there are no strikes and other things are normal," he says. Credit should go to the government for creating such an environment. But all these things should not be linked to Article 370. Article 370 is the fundamental right of Kashmiris which was taken away from us.
A section in Kashmir certainly believes that corruption and rigging have reduced under the Lt Governor's tenure.
A 70-year-old man living in Srinagar is happy that the employees are now on duty. Every employee is accountable. The practice of paying money for work has now almost ceased.
The highest number of cases were reported in Jammu and Kashmir
In what context should the government's claim of 'peace' be seen? The reality is that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, i.e. UAPA, is being used here at record levels in the last four years or so.
After the year 2019, arrests of people under UAPA and Public Safety Act i.e. PSA have increased in Kashmir Valley.
RTI activist Venkatesh Naik's RTI reply revealed that in 2014, only 45 cases were registered in Kashmir under UAPA. But in the year 2019, 255 cases were registered under UAPA.
According to the Jammu and Kashmir Police, from 2019 to August 2021, UAPA was imposed on more than 2,300 people in Kashmir and 1,200 cases were registered under its provisions.
The National Crime Records Bureau's report for the year 2021 states that Jammu and Kashmir have recorded the highest number of UAPA cases in the country.
Jammu and Kashmir also witnessed the highest number of riots among all the Union Territories. In 2021, 751 cases of riots were registered here.
It is difficult for the accused once caught to get out of jail
Now let's talk about PSA. Compared to 2019, PSA cases have decreased. In 2019 there were 699 cases of PSA but in 2020 it reduced to 160. In the year 2021, 95 cases were registered.
Several lawyers fighting human rights cases in Kashmir say that since 2019, it has become a common practice for people serving sentences under the PSA Act to have their points quashed by the High Court. Granted, the UAPA section is imposed on them and they remain in jail.
Thus, once caught, it becomes difficult for the accused to get out of jail. Security agencies have started using PSA and UAPA together in Kashmir.
The Public Safety Act or PSA was brought in by the Sheikh Abdullah government in 1978. It was introduced against timber smugglers, but when extremism rose in Kashmir in the 90s, the law was used against those involved in 'anti-national' activities.
Under the PSA Act, an accused can be kept in jail for up to two years without trial.
Also, under the UAPA, an accused can be held in jail without trial for years. The provisions of UAPA are so complex that the chances of the accused getting bail are almost nil.
A resident of Ganderbal says, “People are so afraid of PSA and UAPA that if you ask them their opinion, they are afraid to say anything. The houses of journalists and human rights lawyers are raided, and even though no case has been registered, these people are afraid to write and speak anything against the administration. In such a situation, tell what the common people will protest.
On August 5, 2021, on the second anniversary of the end of 370, pictures of Lal Chowk and Polo View Market in Kashmir went viral.
On the day when local shopkeepers of Kashmir closed their shops against the abrogation of Article 370, security agencies forced many shopkeepers to open their shops.
Last year i.e. on 5th August 2022 I was in a hotel in Srinagar, on that day when I woke up the internet was not working even though I had a postpaid connection on my phone. When I spoke to my service provider, I learned that the internet service in the area has been suspended due to government orders. My phone's internet was down till 10 pm.
Talking about investment, the first foreign investment in Kashmir took place in March this year. The investment comes from Dubai's Emaar Group, which is building a $60 million shopping complex in Srinagar.
The government has often issued statements that Gulf countries have promised or proposed investment in Kashmir, although all investment proposals other than this investment by the Emaar Group are currently on paper.
According to official figures, an investment of Rs 66,000 crore has been proposed in Jammu and Kashmir till March this year.
A section in Kashmir believes that the situation on the ground has changed, but they say that the situation could have changed even without the removal of 370 by the government.
A 35-year-old woman living in Srinagar believes that 'the situation in Kashmir has returned to normal, but it would have been the same even if Article 370 had not been removed. The tension that was generally present in the situation in Kashmir has subsided.
"We did not go out of the house, the news of the conflict did not come to the fore, to some extent such a situation was controlled but for this, our identity has been taken away."