- Title: ''We are afraid'' - Kashmiri family on living under lockdown
- Date: 17th August 2019
- Summary: SRINAGAR, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA (AUGUST 17, 2019) (REUTERS) WOMEN SITTING INSIDE A ROOM FACE OF A VEILED WOMAN WOMAN IRONING CLOTHES WOMEN AND A YOUNG BOY INSIDE THE ROOM WOMAN FOLDING A CLOTH (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) KASHMIRI WOMAN FROM OLD QUARTERS OF SRINAGAR, ISHRAT, SAYING: "For 12 days we have been locked inside our houses, we cannot go out of our homes, we cannot go and get medicines, we have small children and we can't even go and buy toffees for them. There is nothing for us. We have relatives outside, brothers and sisters in countries outside but we have no contact or news of them. We have absolutely no information about their well being." EYES OF ANOTHER WOMAN LISTENING KASHMIRI WOMAN AND YOUNG GIRL CARRYING A CRATE OF POTATOES (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) 9-YEAR-OLD GIRL, SIRAT, SAYING: "Police is outside, what can we do? We don't get anything and we are afraid. We can't go out and play, we can't go to school, we cannot do anything. We are only staying inside our home and by staying inside the house, we will go mad." WOMEN STANDING IN ALLEY NEXT TO ENTRANCE OF THEIR HOUSE AND LOOKING OUTSIDE A WOMAN WITH HER FACE COVERED WITH CLOTH GOING BEHIND THE DOOR ARMOURED VEHICLE DRIVING PAST (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) KASHMIRI SHOPKEEPER, MOHAMMED LAKIB MIR, SAYING: "This thing (removal of Article 370) that they have imposed on us, it's like they have hit a slap on our faces. We are not going to sit idle. We will starve to death but we will not compromise on our rights and our dignity, we will take our honour back." INDIAN PARAMILITARY FORCE KEEPING GUARD SECURITY AT THE ENTRANCE OF ONE OF THE LANES IN DOWNTOWN SRINAGAR
- Embargoed: 31st August 2019 14:23
- Keywords: Jammu and Kashmir India Kashmiri families lockdown
- Location: SRINAGAR, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA
- City: SRINAGAR, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA
- Country: India
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001ASLVWP3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Ishrat and her family are one of the seven million people who have been confined to their homes without any communication services for the past 12 days in disputed Kashmir.
For the first few days after the government's move to strip Kashmir of its special political status, parts of Srinagar had been turned into a fortress, blanketed with armed paramilitary and rolls of concertina wire blocking main streets.
People have been living in isolation, without any contact with the outside world, since the government's harsh clampdown in the Kashmir valley.
"We have small children and we can't even go and buy toffees for them," Ishrat said from her home in old quarters of Srinagar, which has long been a centre for protests.
Even though authorities have now begun to ease restrictions, there is still a lockdown in much of the region, including in some parts of Srinagar.
"Police is outside, what can we do? We don't get anything and we are afraid,'' said Sirat, one of the youngest members of the Ishrat family.
Store owner Mohammed Lakib Mir says he had to shut his shop and had to make do by selling tea and snacks near his house since the clampdown.
Authorities say the crackdown is necessary to prevent disorder after a move they say will bring Muslim-majority Kashmir into line with the rest of India, help the economy and end a bloody insurgency.
(Production: Bhushan Kumar, Sunil Kataria, Aiden Nulty) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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