Kashmir entered its third day of security lockdown on Wednesday even as Indian prime minister Narendra Modi promised that a “better tomorrow awaits” after his government ended the territory’s special autonomy and stepped up New Delhi’s control.
All communication links within Kashmir and to the outside world remain cut, while schools and colleges have been suspended indefinitely.
“We are like prisoners there,” a Kashmiri businessman, who flew out of the state on Wednesday afternoon, told the Financial Times. “We cannot communicate with anyone except our neighbours . . . It was very difficult to reach the airport. Everywhere the army stops you, and you have to argue with them.”