Kashmiris lie low as deafening silence warns of the storm ahead

SRINAGAR: For the thousands of residents of the Kashmir valley, the eerie quiet is a forewarning of the silence before the storm.
With the Indian government’s unprecedented curfew and complete shutdown of communication network entering its fourth week, there’s a wave of simmering anger that seems to have overtaken Indian-administered Kashmir and is reflected on the walls and along streets of the valley.
“People are imprisoned at home... Deprived of news. Everything, including cable TV, is shut down. We are not aware of what is happening in the outside world,” Shahid, a Kashmiri trader told Arab News.
Residents of the valley were confined to their homes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government abrogated the Article 370 and 35A of India’s constitution – both of which accorded a special status and autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir.
The decision resulted in a deep sense of betrayal for the people of Kashmir, with several saying they already felt alienated in one of the world’s highest militarized zones.
“Since there is a widespread curfew in place in Kashmir that’s why people’s anger is not surfacing. Once the curfew is lifted people will react very aggressively,” Mohsin, a Kashmiri businessman said.
Arab News took to the streets of Srinagar throughout the last few weeks of August to speak to residents and understand what it takes to be under involuntary house arrest.
Watch this video which explains why the residents of the valley remain in a state of self-declared disobedience against the government even as Indian authorities relaxed the curfew in certain pockets of the city and ordered local administration to reopen schools.