A few days ahead of the second anniversary of the August 5, 2019, abrogation of Article 370, Kashmiri poet and actor Bashir Ahmad Dada talks of 바카라śliving in fear바카라ť. 바카라śIt바카라™s not just the government that is responsible for the Kashmiri바카라™s fear-ridden existence. We, the people, are also spreading fear,바카라ť he says, recalling how his friends asked him to delete a Facebook post critical of the government. 바카라śThey thought the police would arrest me otherwise. This is what has changed in the past two years. Poets have given up poetry, columns by independent writers have disappeared from local newspapers and everyone is afraid of talking,바카라ť Dada explains.
In Dada바카라™s native town Anantnag, Abdul Qayoom Dar rues that nobody speaks about the police killing his son Imran in an alleged 바카라śstaged encounter바카라ť in Kulgam district on July 24. 바카라śWe called many journalists, but no one is reporting our side of the story,바카라ť he says. 바카라śI had talked with my son just a day Âbefore the police showed me his Âphotograph and said he was a militant killed in an encounter. They didn바카라™t let us see his body and buried him quietly in north Kashmir.바카라ť Dar has written to the Anantnag district magistrate, Âasking for a probe.
In Gurez, near the Line of Control in north Kashmir, people protested on July 30 after the army handed over the body of a 52-year-old man, MuhaÂmmad Abdullah Hajam, to his family. Locals Âallege he was tortured to death in a military camp, but the army claims he slipped into a stream while helping in a search operation in a forest. Political parties and human rights groups, which used to take up such Âissues in the past and sought accounÂtability from the security forces, have been silent this time.
CPI(M) state secretary Yousuf Tarigami attributes this silence to the 바카라śerosion of democracy바카라ť in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370. 바카라śWhatever space there was for democratic expression, civil liberties and rule of law has shrunk to unimaginable levels,바카라ť he says. 바카라śDirect rule from New Delhi has ensured complete Âsilence on the ground. Land and Âdomicile laws are being enacted without talking to us. We don바카라™t matter.바카라ť
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, however, has been claiming that things have changed for the better in the past two years. In the 바카라śnew J&K바카라ť, according to Sinha, stone-pelting has become histÂory, there is a higher footfall of tourists, and government forces have an upper hand over militants. The tricolour has been unfurled outside every office in Srinagar, with the army participating in some of the flag-hoisting ceremonies. Srinagar Municipal Corporation councillor Aqib Renzu has even said he will Âunfurl the tricolour at the Hurriyat Conference office in Rajbagh on August 14, Pakistan바카라™s independence day.
바카라śThe government says people aren바카라™t angry, but how do you quantify anger?바카라ť asks Ifra Jan, spokesperson of the National Conference. 바카라śAre people happy in non-democratic countries where Ânobody protests? In democracies, Âpeople show anger through public Âprotest, which is a democratic right. Will the current dispensation allow Âanyone to come out and say anything? A father who demanded his son바카라™s body was charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. If people were to Âprotest on the streets, won바카라™t their lives be in danger? A government muzzling people바카라™s voices is not a sign of people being happy, it is a sign of the government being tyrannical.바카라ť
The biggest political achievement since the abrogation of Article 370 was a meeting of Kashmiri politicians with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 24. Tarigami says they were keen to see progress on the restoration of statehood before assembly elections are held, but nothing is happening. Instead, he says, the Âgovernment put an end to the 149-year practice of Darbar Move, dismissed Âgovernment employees without notice or inquiry, made amendments in the domicile law that make it easier to Âacquire a J&K residency and made CID verification for employment more Âstringent, making a large number of Âpeople ineligible for jobs.
(This appeared in the print edition as "Valley of Silence")
By Naseer Ganai in Srinagar
