Police in the Kashmir valley have been telling people to stay at home, but the Indian government denies that there is a curfew
has obscured the northernmost tip of India. Since it scrapped Jammu & Kashmir’s largely nominal autonomy on August 5th and carved the state into two territories, the central government has maintained a curfew in the region. Internet and telephone services have been suspended. Travel has been restricted. A young academic in Delhi says the lockdown made it impossible for him to celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid with his family in rural Kashmir.
Official statements from the central government do not shine much light. They assert that no violent protests have taken place since the change of Jammu & Kashmir’s status. But that seems unlikely. On August 9th Al Jazeera and theaired footage of a large angry crowd in the Muslim-dominated part that is known as the Kashmir valley. At first the home ministry insisted that no gatherings of more than 20 people had taken place.
The government has also failed to explain its legal basis for locking up many Kashmiri politicians, including ones who are relatively moderate, during the clampdown. Reports by Indian and foreign media say that between 200 and 500 people are being held in makeshift detention facilities in Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir. A senior official was asked by reporters whether there was a legal justification. “Yes,” he said simply, “but I cannot say what.
Mr Faesal is being held under the Public Safety Act. This gives police the discretion to place almost anyone under administrative detention for up to two years. It is one of many such laws that have long been in force—the Armed Forces Special Powers Act being the most notorious. They give the authorities sweeping rights to imprison or even shoot people they regard as troublemakers. The Supreme Court has taken an indulgent line on the curfew.
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