Thread Link: https://twitter.com/vijaita/status/1160041091258732545
I will be tweeting and reporting what I saw and heard in Srinagar and not what I wanted to see and hear. #Article370
Some voices: "They have taken away our crown. We don't want repeat of 90s but the situation is such that guns will be picked on ration cards"
"They cannot protect women in rest of the country and they want to protect us?"
"They talk about poverty? Every one here owns a house.".
"I am not sure about the benefits or lack of this move, but the way it was done is simply wrong. You put leaders in jail, snap communication, do not consult anyone and say this is for our good?"
Except one person, I didn't meet anyone who supported the government's decision to annul Article 370. This person said:
"we have seen so much bloodshed, I don't want a repeat. But how do you explain this to the younger generation?"
These observations are based on interactions in Srinagar city, we don't know how what is happening in other parts of the Valley.The downtown area in Srinagar is fortified.I couldn't reach our correspondent @peerashiq who lives there,only met him yday, that too by chance
Only music channels on local cable network allowed to air, the news channels are blocked. Delhi based news channels are airing and they are the only modes of information. People said none of them gave a correct picture.Local journos were asked to delete footage by security forces
I asked a young man, what he made of NSA Ajit Doval's outreach, he asked, "Who is he? I saw someone meeting the locals on TV news"
Diesel is easily available, so big taxis are operating. Since most private small cars run on petrol, it's sold only for a couple of hours, after midnight. Public transport is skeletal, people come on the roads and if lucky are able to hitch rides with fellow commuters.
Sample pass for residents to move around in Srinagar city. Not everyone can get this "curfew" pass though. 1st pic- sample 144 CrPc restriction pass. 2nd pic- a notice outside DM office that no "curfew pass" issued 👇
In case you don't know how a concertina wire looks. Srinagar is a maze of these wires.
At one of the helplines in Srinagar, I met Harvinder Kaur. " If you are going to Delhi please tell my son I am fine and ask him to recharge the TV. I do not have any other issue,” she told this reporter.
The son was in Jammu when I called him this morning. There was no Internet connectivity there. He said he would recharge TV once he reached Pathankot, where he works. He sent this message. Now Ms Kaur can watch TVShashi Kapoor's song plays on a local music channel in Srinagar, a scroll runs on the screen announcing the cancellation of marriage ceremonies. With no Internet and no connectivity, this is how relatives were informed to not to come for the party. Video by
Prof C.L Vishen, a Kashmiri Pandit living in Srinagar had had a death in family, wanted to call to know when the rituals were planned and had to book airline tickets.
Our video story on people queuing at DC office to make calls. Video was shot yday
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/kashmir-srinagar-residents-are-not-a-phone-call-away/article28974576.ece
Somewhere in Anantnag, Mr. Doval teases the little boy: schools are closed....are you happy?
An elderly person interjects: arre khush kaun hai yahan? (Who is happy here)
A person in the background, inko pehchaante ho aap? (Do you recognise him?) Seller: Jee Nahin. Person in the background: he is NSA Ajit Doval
Administration giving wi fi access to some chosen few journos from Delhi. This is how they are able to tweet and report. It was so sad to see local journos at the Kashmir Press Club typing stories, but nowhere to publish or air.
Chief Secretary and DGP Dilbagh Singh clarified that people should not believe any mischevious and motivated news regarding firing incidents in the valley. The police have not fired a single bullet so far in 6 days: J&K police
Again, I did not meet anyone who said they looked up to Pakistan or wanted it's help. Stop living in a cuckoo land. And you are right, the imaginary conversations you are having is motivated.
With communication lines down and the Internet blocked,any kind of news,information or rumour was being passed around by word of mouth.For the past week,the Valley was abuzz with murmurs that arms had been taken away frm J&K police.The Hindu toured the city on Aug8,9,we found
most policemen were seen wielding polycarbonate lathis and were deployed along with the armed CRPF men and were guarding lanes ringed with coils of concertina fencing.However, the policemen guarding govt buildings and those providing security cover to officials had weapons
“We are under the blanket, have had no communication with our family,” shouted a J&K policeman from a tin-roofed bunker outside a government building, his finger firmly on a gun’s trigger. He was asked if he had been able to speak to his family.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/curbs-eased-in-srinagar-people-throng-streets-to-buy-essentials/article28979258.ece
The tin shed that's his work space.
Another cop said after Burhan Wani was killed in 2016, he couldn’t go home for six months. “The uniforms were soiled due to continuous wear but we were not allowed to leave our posts....We do not know how long the restrictions would continue this time, we are in for a long haul."
Another policeman suggested it was good that the State had been downgraded to a Union Territory. “We will get better pay and benefits like the central forces,” he hopefully added.
Dharmendra, an Assistant Commandant with the CRPF, said he had been posted in Srinagar for two years. “We work with J&K Police shoulder to shoulder. The reports of CRPF taking over their responsibilities is not correct,” Mr. Dharmendra asserted.
In the absence of any communication, the Srinagar hospital has not been able to identify the unconscious “Number 12” and so her family is in all likelihood unaware about her condition, the hospital staff said.
This gut wrenching story by
People are angry mainly on two counts. One,they feel their decades-long privileges were undemocratically and unceremoniously curtailed.Two, they are distraught by a total communication blackout for most part of the past week..via
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