Sitting inside her second-floor house in Okhla’s Johri Farm, a Kashmiri-dominated locality in Delhi, 30-year-old Aqiba held her cell phone steady as she tried her mother’s fixed-line number twice in three minutes in the hope that it will connect.
Ms. Aqiba’s parents, brother and other relatives are in Srinagar and the last time she spoke to them was late evening on Sunday. Her only regret on Monday was missing her mother’s call around 6 a.m. “My daughter is two years old and I was busy with her. I missed my mother’s call and I have been trying the number since morning but it’s not connecting. I just want to know they are okay and safe. The last time we spoke, she told me they are locked up in the house,” said Ms. Aqiba as she wiped tears off her face.
She said her paternal uncle is a cancer patient and his condition was grave on Sunday. “I have no news about him. I don’t know how they would take him to hospital if required,” she said. “Internet connection and mobile services had been shut down earlier too, but landline phones used to work. Since Monday morning, even those are not connecting. This has happened for the first time in years,” said Ms. Aqiba.
It’s not just her who is disturbed by the government’s decision to “reorganise” Jammu and Kashmir and scrap its special status under Article 370.
‘No say’
A 46-year-old woman who did not wish to be identified started crying when asked about her opinion on the decision. She was watching the news on television to keep herself updated on the developments in Kashmir where her entire family and relatives were “under siege”.
“ Hum kya bolenge ab? Humare bolne se kya hoga ? (What can we say? What will happen if we say something?),” she said.
Visibly angry over the developments, the woman, talking from behind a screen door, alleged that people from Kashmir are already treated as “second class” citizens and once Article 370 is amended, the situation will become worse. “A Kashmiri is picked up by police for anything and everything. Independence Day is around the corner and Kashmiris visiting Delhi will not be able to check into a hotel because of their identity. It will only get worse,” she predicted.
Her neighbour, also a Kashmiri who did not wish to be named, said, “This is all about politics and politicians. The common man in Kashmir had no say in this. We were not even informed, let alone be asked.”
