Tuesday, 4 August 2020

'Our identity has been robbed': life in Kashmir after a year of crisis

On 5 August 2019, India revoked the Muslim-majority territory’s semi-autonomous status and began a devastating crackdown

For the past year, Fayaz Tilgami’s poetry has spoken of nothing but loss: a lost home, a lost language, a lost world. “We have lost our existence; it has been snatched from us,” said the 70-year-old Kashmiri poet, his voice heavy with sorrow.

A year ago, on 5 August 2019, the Indian government, led by prime minister Narendra Modi, repealed article 370 of the Indian constitution. For almost 70 years, the provision had given the disputed, majority-Muslim state of Jammu and Kashmir a semi-autonomous status, with special powers over issues such as jobs and residency. The special status had been granted to Kashmir in exchange for joining the Indian union after independence in 1947.

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from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/31h6Wyx

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