Kashmiris are keeping shops closed and their kids home from school in a mass civil disobedience movement to show that life is not going back to normal after India stripped the Muslim-majority region’s autonomy from its constitution.
Read MoreAs the Indian government’s communication ban reaches two weeks, it announced that 50,000 landline connections have been restored for calls after crowds surged last week to the few phones available from government offices. Internet and mobile networks remain shut.
Read MoreThe Hindu nationalist-led Indian government has stripped Muslim-majority Kashmir of its agreed-upon terms of accession, a special status granting autonomy under the Indian constitution, and sent in more than 40,000 troops to the already heavily militarized region. Kashmiris there are living under curfews without access to phones, Internet or cable TV channels while elected representatives are under house arrest.
Read MoreThe Indian government is reportedly forming a new plan to resettle thousands of Kashmiri Hindus back to the Kashmir Valley, an army-occupied territory disputed with Pakistan. The plan would likely further inflame Hindu-Muslim tensions.
Read MoreThe region has long been plagued by atrocities against Kashmiri Muslims, some of whom advocate for separating from India, and ethnic Kashmiri Hindus, who support India’s military occupation and takeover. Caught in the conflict is a tiny minority of Sikhs, who say their voices are not being heard.
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