Thousands of police mobilised for Srinagar rally seen as Modi’s campaign event for elections India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has made his first visit to Kashmir since the government revoked the region’s autonomy in 2019, claiming the state was finally “breathing freely” despite allegations of systematic repression. Thousands of police and paramilitary officers were mobilised before Modi’s first rally there for more than five years, held in the state’s largest city, Srinagar ..read more

Chief justice says government did not overreach its powers when it revoked autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 India’s supreme court has ruled that the government acted lawfully when it revoked the autonomy of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and brought it directly under control of the centre. Article 370, which for almost 70 years had enshrined special rights for Jammu and Kashmir outside the Indian constitution, was revoked by the government of Narendra Modi in August 2019 through a presidential order, with no consultation with the Kashmiri people ..read more

Fahad Shah, whose case was a symbol of harassment of region’s media, says he has different outlook after months behind bars During his more than 600 days behind bars, Fahad Shah, a Kashmiri journalist, had begun to lose hope that he would ever see freedom again. It was in February last year that Shah, 34, the editor of the Kashmir Walla, one of the last remaining independent news websites in the region, was arrested on charges of “glorifying terrorism” and publishing “anti-national content”. What followed was a crushing 21 months for Shah as his high-profile case became a symbol of the growing ..read more

That the author could be prosecuted for comments made 13 years ago is absurd – but also a deadly threat to freedom of speech The climate for media and free speech in India is in a dangerous place. The country is already ranked 161 out of 180 countries in the press freedom index, but the actions of prime minister Narendra Modi’s government in the past few weeks have shown how many more clampdowns await. Desperately in need of distraction tactics – given the many failures in governance, tackling inflation or delivering jobs – the regime is after a fresh dose of sound and fury against political o ..read more

Top official sanctions case against Booker prize-winning novelist for comments about Kashmir The Booker prize-winning Indian novelist Arundhati Roy could be prosecuted for a 2010 speech about Kashmir after a top official signed off on the move, according to reports in India. Roy, 61, is one of India’s most famous living authors but her writing and activism, including her criticism of the prime minister Narendra Modi’s government, have made her a polarising figure in the country ..read more

Many fear the new homes will speed up a shift away from the traditional ways of family life where elderly people are looked after by extended family. But the need for care is growing No family came to visit Ali Mohammad Dar at the care home where he spent his final days. He was moved to the home in Budgam from hospital, where he was being treated for kidney failure. When Dar died in March, staff at the home in Indian-administered Kashmir struggled to find a place to bury him because he didn’t have a family burial plot ..read more

The climate crisis and farmers opting to grow more lucrative timber is putting many bat-makers in Kashmir out of business For more than 100 years they have been making cricket bats from Kashmir’s willow trees. Along the highway leading to the town of Sangam in the Indian-administered region, dozens of little workshops display neat stacks of the roughly hewn pale wood outside. Inside, the willow is painstakingly fashioned into cricket bats, which are then shipped across India and to other cricketing countries around the world. The humid environment and fertile soil make the area ideal for willo ..read more

Violence and censorship rife among citizens and the media, as push to reclaim state land belies Indian government’s claims of peace in disputed region Suhail Ahmad Shah stood despairingly before the wreckage that for two decades had been his livelihood. Just hours before, he had been busy at the workshop when he heard an ominous crunch above him and the tin roof began to cave in. He barely made his escape before a bulldozer flattened the entire place. “No notice was served to us,” said Shah, 38. “The officials came suddenly and demolished our workshop. No one is listening to us. We’ve been pay ..read more

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