“Kashmir Turned Into an Open-Air Prison”
I was in Kashmir when India launched its brutal crackdown last month. Before I knew it, my beloved home had been turned into an open-air prison.
A Kashmiri man pleads an Indian paramilitary trooper to allow him to cross the barrier during curfew-like restrictions, on September 10, 2019 in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, India. (Yawar Nazir / Getty Images)
I arrived in Kashmir on Thursday, August 1, delighted to be home after eleven months away. I planned on celebrating Eid with family and friends, and going hiking, fishing, and boating. Most of all, I wanted to spend time by the Dal Lake. The scorching heat of Delhi had zapped my energy. Only the wondrous climate, mountains, and lakes of Kashmir could restore me.
But after just two days, everything changed. Kashmir turned into an open-air prison, and its inhabitants became inmates.
Saturday, August 3
There was an intense clamor at the petrol pump today. The cars and motorcycles formed a seemingly endless queue, longer than I’d ever seen in Kashmir. People resorted to pouring petrol in flasks.
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