AMNA NAWAZ: Hundreds of people protested the security crackdown and clashed with police
in Indian-controlled Kashmir today.
At the same time, India's government said it was reviewing the situation there and would
remove restrictions it had placed on the region two weeks ago, sparking the protest when it
removed Kashmir's autonomous status.
Life in Kashmir has been paralyzed.
Stores remain closed, and traffic along normally busy crossroads is thin.
Under an unprecedented lockdown, nearly four million people in the Indian-administered
part of the territory have been confined to their homes in a total communications blackout.
BUSHEER AHMED, Kashmir (through translator): As of now, everything is locked down.
Whatever the government has done, it is not good.
Everyone is under house arrest.
AMNA NAWAZ: Tensions in the region have escalated since last week, when Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi stripped the primarily Muslim state of its semiautonomous status.
Kashmir is now in its 13th day under this crackdown, but authorities say they will soon
allow schools and offices to reopen and phone service to be restored.
BVR SUBRAHMANYAM, Chief Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir: Telecom connectivity, which has been
a point of sore concern, will be gradually eased and restored in a phased manner, keeping
in mind the constant threat posed by terrorist organizations in using mobile connectivity
to organize terror actions.
AMNA NAWAZ: Despite the measures to prevent unrest, anger at India's government for revoking
Kashmir's autonomy has fueled sporadic street protests and sometimes violent confrontations.
Control of Kashmir has been contested by India and Pakistan since the 1947 post-colonial
partition that separated the two countries.
The nuclear-armed neighbors each administer parts of the region separated by the line
of control.
The countries have already fought three times over Kashmir.
Now Prime Minister Modi has defended this takeover as a national security decision to
quell attacks from separatist militants in Kashmir, which Pakistan has supported in the
past.
But, on Twitter today, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called India's actions -- quote
-- "fascist tactics" that will not -- quote -- "smother the Kashmiri liberation struggle."
Khan expressed his concerns with President Trump over a telephone call this morning.
Mr. Trump said he would soon hold talks with Prime Minister Modi.
Also today, at the request of Pakistan, the U.N. Security Council met behind closed doors
to discuss Kashmir for the first time in more than 50 years.
China's U.N. envoy urged both countries to avoid taking unilateral action over the region.
ZHANG JUN, Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations: The tension is already very tense
and very dangerous.
AMNA NAWAZ: But India's ambassador to the U.N. called the situation an internal matter.
SYED AKBARUDDIN, Indian Ambassador to the United Nations: We don't need international
busybodies to try and tell us how to run our lives.
AMNA NAWAZ: For more on what things are like on the ground in Kashmir, we're joined by
Surabhi Tandon.
She's special correspondent for France 24, who just returned from a five-day trip there.
Surabhi, welcome to the "NewsHour."
Let's start with what you saw and heard from Kashmiris on the ground who are living through
this lockdown.
SURABHI TANDON, France 24: Well, I was in Srinagar for about five days, and I tried
to visit as many neighborhoods as possible.
Of course, the security situation sort of changed every day, in that the extent of the
curfew-like situations were changing each day that I was there.
But, for the most part, people in Srinagar, where I was, were under a fair amount of lockdown.
Movement was restricted.
In fact, if you didn't have a curfew pass or a reason to go to the hospital or chemist,
something that was urgent, you weren't really allowed to move around between neighborhoods.
This is for civilians.
For journalists as well, we were guarded in most areas we went to.
There were some no-go zones.
Of course, I was also there during the time of Eid, which was this Monday.
So, on Saturday, which was the 11th of August, the government did ease up restrictions.
They opened up some markets in parts of the city.
And that's when you saw a fair amount of movement, people coming out, buying things in preparation
for the festival, but also buying things to stock up, because nobody knows even at this
point how long these curfew-like situations are going to last.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, Surabhi, what was the reaction on the ground when India first made this move
to revoke autonomy?
A lot of people are wondering why we didn't see larger-scale protests.
SURABHI TANDON: Well, I would say, first of all, that's because not possible at the moment
with this military presence that is in the valley.
Now, Kashmir is already one of the world's most militarized zones.
And before the fifth of August, 45,000 extra troops were brought in.
So that's almost one military personnel for 10 civilians.
So you see this military presence everywhere, and especially in areas that have frequent
protests.
They were such no-go zones that even we weren't allowed.
There were giant vans that blockaded the roads.
People were barely allowed to walk through, no cars, of course, no public transport going
in.
There was one large protest on Friday, the day that I arrived, which has been reported
by some media outlets, but the reason that these were contained is because of the heavy
military presence that surrounds these neighborhoods.
Already, with these small protests, you had the military throwing in tear gases, in fact,
also using pellet guns.
This is happening on the ground.
AMNA NAWAZ: When we talk about the future of Kashmir, we hear a lot from both leaders
in India and Pakistan.
You have been talking to people on the ground on the Indian-administered side.
What is it they say they want for their future?
SURABHI TANDON: In Kashmir, when you say what do people want in the future, well, first
of all, they say -- the people that I spoke to say that they don't agree with this decision,
because they weren't included in the decision.
They feel that it's another decision made by the Indian state that has been forced on
them.
And as we have seen this resistance for many years in Kashmir, this resistance will continue.
And some, of course, said that now this resistance perhaps might even become more extreme.
The people in the middle, their argument to stay in India, to be pro-India has suddenly
become irrelevant.
And so a lot of people now perhaps feel that they are on one side, which is anti-being
part of the Indian state.
And what will happen, how this angle -- and how this angle will erupt is to be seen.
AMNA NAWAZ: That is Surabhi Tandon, special correspondent for France 24, reporting from
New Delhi tonight.
Thank you very much.