New Delhi/Jammu and Kashmir: After a team consisting of human rights activist Kavita Krishnan, and three others, were stopped by the Press Club of India in Delhi on Wednesday, to screen their film titled "Kashmir Caged", filmed during their visit to Kashmir post modification of Article 370, Krishnan said that the Press Club authorities informally told them that they were under “surveillance and pressure” to stall the screening.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Krishnan said, "the Press Club told us we can't use the projector. Privately they told us, that there is also surveillance here and they are under pressure. If we can't show what's happening in the Press Club, then where can we show?"
"I would like to tell them that we know you are under pressure, we are under pressure too, for releasing these videos and reports. Tomorrow, I may be booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) or Jean Dreze, for that matter, and yet we are doing this, and I feel that we need to save democracy, you cannot leave the job of saving the deomcracy on someone else, " added Krishnan.
When asked if the people of the Valley were happy with the modification of Article 370, as was being claimed by the Centre, Krishnan said, "Not a single Kashmiri we met was in favour of the modification of Article 370, they were all deeply anguished."
The activist said that she was told by the people of the Valley that they pursuaded their ruler Hari Singh to be with India, as they felt that their Kashmiriyat will be safe if they will be with a secular, democratic and federal India, and the symbol of federalism was Article 370.
"When they (Government of India) have destroyed the binding factor between us...it means that they don't care about our consent. They don't want us to be a voluntary part of india, they want to hold us by force, they want our land" said Krishnan as she quoted a resident of Kashmir.
Further describing the situation in Kashmir, Krishnan said, "All the shops and schools were closed, everything was closed, except some ATM's, chemist shops and hospitals. It reminds me of Baghdad, Palestine, and these are occupied lands.
"The whole of Kashmir is a jail, and jails are not normal, " added Krishnan.
The human rights activist also acknowleged how an ETV Bharat reporter helped them navigate through the "curfew-ridden" streets of Kashmir as they landed their.
"The miniute we landed in Srinagar, the taxi could not take us further, because their was a curfew. So, we had to get down and walk, so Maimoona and me walked on the deserted streets with our bags, and their was an ETV Bharat reporter who recognised me, came up, took a byte in a deserted Lal Chowk area, and then they arranged for someone to give us a lift to some place, " she said.
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Krishnan was a part of a four-member team consisting of noted economist Jean Dreze, activist Maimoona Mollah and Vimalbhai. After being denied permission, their film was later released on YouTube.
