• Contact Us
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
Monday, January 30, 2023
National Tribune
SUBSCRIBE
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Science
  • Health
  • Opinion
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Science
  • Health
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
National Tribune
No Result
View All Result
Home Anti-Terror

India’s Anti-Terror Raids Are Leaving Kashmiris Homeless During Coronavirus

by Associated News
May 24, 2020
in Anti-Terror, India's
0
India’s Anti-Terror Raids Are Leaving Kashmiris Homeless During Coronavirus
0
SHARES
1
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

SRINAGAR, India — Insurgents and Indian security forces ambushed each other nearly every day this week in the disputed territory of Kashmir, despite calls for a ceasefire during the pandemic.

On Tuesday, a fierce gunfight erupted in Srinagar, Kashmir’s capital city, where police killed a top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, a militant outfit that’s thought to be supported by Pakistan. In the process, security forces destroyed about a dozen civilian homes.

“They kicked down the door to our house. They told us ‘put your hands up!’” Beba Bashir, a homemaker, told VICE News.

Bashir says the police accused her family of harboring terrorists, beat her two sons, and forced them to take a video of their home to prove there were no militants hiding inside. All the while, she said, they threatened to shoot them.

Eventually, Bashir and her children were allowed to leave. But when they returned the next day, their house was completely destroyed.

“We lost everything,” Bashir said. “They did this during this pandemic. Where should we go?”

The violence is only ratcheting up an already tense situation; Kashmir has been under lockdown since long before the coronavirus hit. Last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed the country’s constitution to do away with the disputed region’s special autonomy, jailing opposition leaders and restricting internet and phone services as a way to prevent a mass uprising against him.

Though he promised his reforms would bring economic prosperity to the valley, the unending political lockdown has made life in the pandemic near impossible.

“Throughout the world, people are saying work from your houses. Unfortunately, we are not able to do such things here in Kashmir; there is no internet,” Sheikh Ashiq, the president of Kashmir’s Chamber of Commerce, told VICE News.

And during the lockdown, Modi’s government passed a new law allowing outsiders to acquire property in Kashmir.

Pakistan, which also lays claim to Kashmir, accuses India’s Hindu nationalist leadership of using the coronavirus lockdown to engineer demographic change in its largest Muslim-majority region.

For business leaders like Ashiq, the timing of the new law shows the government is focused on controlling the political climate rather than caring for the well-being of Kashmiris.

“This [decision] is too much in haste,” Ashiq said. “At this time, I think one has to think about how to support people, how to give them a humanitarian touch, rather than going for all these things where they feel more insecure.”

Cover: Beba Bashir hugs a friend amidst the rubble of her home in Srinagar, Kashmir’s capital city.

Video produced by: Angad Singh, Zubair Ahmed Dar

Video edited by: Danny Card

Continue Reading…

Tags: Anti-TerrorIndia's
Associated News

Associated News

Next Post
‘I Can Always Go Back to the Other Side:’ How Jane Roe Demanded a Raise From Anti-Abortion Activists

‘I Can Always Go Back to the Other Side:’ How Jane Roe Demanded a Raise From Anti-Abortion Activists

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

7 Dead as Tornadoes Rip Through South, Governors Declare State of Emergency

7 Dead as Tornadoes Rip Through South, Governors Declare State of Emergency | NationalTribune.com

2 weeks ago
Christopher Wray downplays election fraud as suspected ballot issues found in Pennsylvania, Texas

Christopher Wray downplays election fraud as suspected ballot issues found in Pennsylvania, Texas

2 years ago

Popular News

    Connect with us

    NationalTribune Logo

    About Us

    National Tribune is an independent newspaper and publishing company owned by the National Tribune Company, formed in 1877 in Washington, D.C.

    • World
    • Business
    • Politics
    • Science
    • Health
    • Opinion
    • Help
    • About Us
    • Subscriptions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Corporate
    • Terms Of Service
    • GDPR

    Connect With us

    • Contact Us

    © 2022 NationalTribune.com

    No Result
    View All Result
    • About
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Home
    • Home 1
    • Home 2
    • Home 3
    • Home 4
    • Home 5
    • Homepage
    • Homepage
    • Investor Relations
    • Log In
    • Member Directory
    • My Account
    • My Profile
    • News
    • Privacy Policy
    • Reset Password
    • Sign Up
    • We’re Hiring

    © 2022 NationalTribune.com

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password?

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In