Team of intellectuals prepares ground report, says Kashmir is on edge, 'disrobed'

While the Centre claims of normalcy returning to the valley, a ground report filed by the team of intellectuals from different professional backgrounds conflicts with the reports filed by the government. The report claimed that there is an atmosphere of fear not just in the Valley but in Jammu as well. The report also claimed that people here are 'forced to celebrate' the decision of abrogation of Article 370.

New Delhi: 60 days after the abrogation of Article 370, a ground report prepared by a team of intellectuals from different professional backgrounds claims, "Kashmir is on edge- humiliated, angry, disturbed and disrobed."

A team consisting of Anirudh Kala, a psychiatrist, Brinelle Dsouza, an academician, Revati Laul, a journalist and Shabnam Hashmi, a social activist, visited Jammu and Kashmir to know about the impact of the abrogation of Article 370 and the subsequent security clampdown and communication blockade on the lives of people living there. They prepared a 76-page report, namely #KashmirCivilDisobedience, which covered the trauma, resistance, resilience and fear among the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

While addressing the media, Shabnam Hashmi said, "The fact that there has been no violence in that area, has to do with the resilience of people. It is an active and collective choice being exercised each day, to observe civil disobedience. In feeling rejected and betrayed by the Indian state, Kashmiris have chosen to respond back, through a largely non-violent protest."

"Most people we met told us they were keeping their shops and offices closed not under any call by militants or separatists or political leaders but as an act of resistance against the Indian state. This decision has been taken by the individuals across Kashmir, largely on their own," she added.

Revati Laul claimed that people living in Kashmir are no longer interested in an interaction with the Indian state. "There is an atmosphere of fear not just in the Valley but in Jammu as well. Students feel that they won't be able to get jobs after the abrogation of Article 370. They are not raising their voice in the fear of getting lynched," she said.

She also claimed that the people of Jammu are forced to celebrate the decision. "Kashmir has had one eye taken out, Jammu has both eyes removed. Along with tourism, even trade has got affected in the region of Jammu."

The group has also claimed that the government's decision has affected the health of people enormously. "There are no internet services, no transportation available in the Valley. Even the Asha workers are not able to go to their workplaces because of which people are not getting adequate medical services."