Kashmir, in Lockdown Limbo, Bristles at Delhi’s Political Solution
Kashmir, in Lockdown Limbo, Bristles at Delhi’s Political Solution by Vibhuti Agarwal and Photographs by Vivek Singh – Wall Street Journal
SRINAGAR, India—At the office of the National Conference, the oldest political party in Kashmir, the gates are locked, a lone security guard sitting outside. Its longtime rival, the Peoples Democratic Party, also shows little sign of life.
In the six months since India’s central government seized control of the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir, bringing in troops, shutting down phone and internet services and detaining hundreds of people, life here has been on hold. The heads of both leading moderate parties remain in government custody, without charges.
“The old mainstream has been choked off,” said Abdul Hameed Kosheen, a Peoples Democratic Party leader who wasn’t detained. “Kashmir is in a political freeze.”…