Downgrades ties, expels envoy, suspends trade, to approach UN
ISLAMABAD/NEWDELHI: Pakistan on Wednesday announced a slew of retaliatory actions in response to India’s decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status, including the expulsion of the Indian envoy, suspension of bilateral trade, and review of bilateral arrangements.
AP■ Security personnel prepare to install a barbed wire fence on a Srinagar road on Wednesday.
The development marked yet another downturn in bilateral ties following India’s move on August 5 to revoke Kashmir’s special status and to split the state into two Union Territories. The Imran Khan government had been under pressure to respond to India’s decision as Kashmir remains a key issue for all political parties.
The retaliatory actions were decided during a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) chaired by Prime Minister Khan and attended by foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, top military officials including army chief General Qamar Bajwa, and ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed.
A statement from the foreign office said the Indian government had been “told to withdraw its high commissioner to Pakistan” in line with the NSC’s decision to downgrade diplomatic relations. “The Indian government has also been informed that Pakistan will not be sending its high commissioner-designate to India,” the statement added.
There was no immediate response from the Indian government, and it wasn’t clear whether New Delhi would take retaliatory actions of its own.
After discussing the situation arising from India’s “unilateral and illegal actions” and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the NSC also decided to take the Kashmir issue to the UN, including the Security Council, said an official statement. It added that Pakistan’s Independence Day on August 14 would be observed as a day of solidarity with Kashmiris.
Kashmir in shock, life takes a hit
Thousands of security forces march through Srinagar even as people are forced to walk long distances for essential medical services; NSA takes stock of situation amid continued communications blockade
From page 01 SRINAGAR:On Wednesday evening, Aijaz Ahmad Mir’s three-yearold son suddenly fell ill, forcing him and his wife to put the boy in a car and drive to the nearest doctor.
REUTERS■ Security forces stand guard next to barbed wire laid across a road during restrictions after the Centre effectively scrapped special status for Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.Little did they know that just a few hundred metres away from their home in downtown Srinagar, clashes had broken out between security forces and locals angry at the government’s decision to effectively scrap Article 370 and bifurcate the state.
As stones rained down on the family, Mir abandoned the car and escaped with his family. They walked the rest of the way to the hospital, five kilometers away.
“In absence of any communication, we were stuck in the clashes. It was a night I never want to face again. There was chaos all around. It was a miracle that I could save my wife and son,” he said.
Mir’s home town of Srinagar has been under complete lockdown for the past four days. An eerie silence hangs over the city, punctuated by sporadic bursts of gunfire and the rumbling of armoured vehicles moving through near-empty streets. Thousands of police, army and paramilitary forces march through the city at regular intervals. People and media personnel have been barred from main thoroughfares and the administration has given passes to only select government officials. All forms of communication networks, including landlines and mobile phones, have been snapped.
Local authorities have not declared a curfew, but instead, clamped down on non-essential travel and gatherings of four or more, effectively keeping restive people in their homes.
The communications blackout was clamped hours before the government moved on Monday to effectively nullify Article 370, which accorded special status to the border state, and divide the state into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir with a legislative assembly, and Ladakh without one.
Since then, the suspension of mainstream news distribution has stoked rumours and apprehension. This has hit hard people with medical conditions in the family, such as Mohsin Ahmad, a resident of north Kashmir’s Baramulla.
Forty-five-year-old Ahmad has been stuck in Srinagar for the past three days, and has no idea how his family members and kids are doing back in Baramulla. “My father is a heart patient who needs constant care. I don’t know whether they have managed to get his medicines or not,” he said.The city’s premier hospital –Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital (SMHS) – remains cut off. The administration had already discharged half of the patients and most of the wards wear a deserted look.
According to doctors, 10 people with different injuries were brought to hospital from various parts of the city. The hospital administration refused to speak to the press.
“It took me three hours to cover 10 kilometres distance from Nishat [on the eastern outskirts of Srinagar] to the hospital. I had to beg the police to leave us towards hospital as my wife was not feeling well,’’ said Shabir Ahmad.
“Even as my wife has been discharged, I can’t go home as there is neither ambulance nor any other means of transport. I am 55, I have never witnessed such a situation,’’ he added.
The government has insisted that the ground situation remains peaceful even as it has refused to clarify when the restrictions will be lifted. On Wednesday, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval chaired a high-level meeting in Srinagar and was briefed about the ongoing situation. Doval also met governor Satya Pal Malik, who reviewed the law and order scenario in the state and was informed by state officials that the overall situation was “satisfactory”. He also interacted with locals. “Everything will be alright. Your safety and security is our responsibility,” Doval told people in Shopian district.
But many Kashmiris say their lives have been upended.
Tanveer Ahmad, a resident of the old city of Srinagar, said he had never imagined that mainstream politicians and former chief ministers – National Conference leaders Farooq and Omar Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti — will be detained some day. “They (mainstream leaders) were the voices of India in Kashmir; they too have been put behind bars. India has lost trust in the Valley.’’
More than 100 mainstream leaders have been detained or put under preventive arrest, said a government official on condition of anonymity. The family members of Mufti’s confidante and PDP leader Waheed ur Rehman Parra allege that he has been charged under the stringent Public Safety Act.
The communications blockade has led to an information vacuum. “Journalists are not able to file their stories, contact offices or their editors. The local administration has not issued any passes to journalists,’’ said Ishfaq Tantray, general secretary of the Press Club of Kashmir.
Hours before the clampdown on Sunday night, deputy commissioner of Srinagar, Shahid Choudhary, had said that passes would be distributed when restrictions are enforced. But now, he is not sure.
“We don’t know whether we can issue passes or not,” said Choudhary.
Within each neighbourhood, large coils of razor wire cut off areas and puncture the festive air of Eid next week. Soldiers man checkpoints about every 100 metres on main roads and only people in essential jobs are allowed to leave their homes. Within neighbourhoods, some residents walk along small lanes while young children ride on scooters to rid themselves of boredom.
Most shops are closed. Arshia Ahmad, a state government officer who lives in the downtown Srinagar area said, “My entire family and relatives are in shock. We don’t know what to do now. For us, it seems everything is over.”
