Srinagar mayor placed under house arrest following comments on occupied Kashmir – World

The mayor of the largest occupied city of Kashmir, Srinagar, Junaid Azim Mattu, was placed under house arrest on Tuesday for criticizing New Delhi's decision to revoke Article 370 and for saying that many people were unable to communicate with their families due to Close, Indian news website. The quint reported.

According to NDTVMattu was placed under house arrest after returning from Delhi, where he had come for medical treatment. The report added that the mayor's movement had been previously restricted following the decision of the Indian government to unilaterally revoke article 370 of its constitution, which granted special autonomy to occupied Kashmir.

Before being placed under house arrest, in an interview with NDTV on Monday, Mattu had said that "even if there is no body dirtying the streets of Kashmir," it would be "very unrealistic" to assume that it has returned to normal.

"Containing a feeling after a radical decision to impose repression does not mean that the situation is normal. The detention policy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government seems to be purely operational," he said. .

"There are still many families who have not been able to communicate with their loved ones," the mayor added.

According to NDTVMattu had said that revoking the special status of occupied Kashmir had caused an "existential crisis because it constituted the very basis of his [the region’s] identity".

"We have always lived with a threat of very palpable violence, that is not a new scenario. But use that to justify the withdrawal of fundamental rights […] that is at the very core of alienation in Kashmir, "he said in the interview.

Before the ruling BJP of India stripped cashmere of special autonomy on August 5, the Indian government had imposed restrictions such as curfew in the restless region while sending tens of thousands of additional troops. Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, former chief ministers of Kashmir occupied by the Indians, were also arrested.

Hours after the revocation, Abdullah, Mufti were arrested, as well as the leaders of the Jammu and Kashmir Popular Conference, Sajjad Lone and Imran Ansari.

The paralyzing blockade in the region has now entered its 31st day.