Modi dares India’s opposition to ‘bring back Article 370’ in occupied Kashmir – World

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing an election rally in the Jalgaon of Maharashtra on Sunday, challenged the country's opposition to restoring Article 370 in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

On August 5, the president of India, Ram Nath Kovind, signed an order that repealed the special status granted to Kashmir occupied under Article 370, a measure vehemently opposed by most of the opposition.

Opposition members, including those of Congress, have also criticized the ongoing blockade and communications blackout in the Valley, which has been in effect for more than two months, as well as mass arrests of Kashmir politicians.

"Can these leaders, who are trying to fool people with their crocodile tears, bring back Article 370 in Kashmir? Will the people of India allow it? Will the people of India accept it? Challenge to Opposition to declare in their manifesto that they will bring back Article 370, "said Modi, quoted by Hindustan Times on Sunday.

He accused Congress of politicizing the government's decision on occupied Kashmir to "reap benefits" in the upcoming elections to the Maharashtra assembly.

“The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (PCN) think completely opposite to what the country thinks. They speak the language of a neighboring country and hesitate to support the country, "Modi claimed, without naming the" neighboring country. "

In saying that Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh were not "just a piece of land or territory" for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he called the two "the crown of India." "Regarding security needs, we take the necessary measures."

He also stated that India "has done everything possible to ensure normalcy in the area, amid all the negative powers in and around the area."

However, the reports that emerge from the Valley show a different reality. Millions have been isolated from the world since the closure was imposed, with concerns about the lack of medical supplies in the area. The crisis has altered the education of millions of children in the disputed Himalayan region, and many have been caught in street violence.

Take a look: how India is trying to portray "calm, normal" in the closed occupied Kashmir

Reports from the region also suggest that children, some as young as 14, have been injured in actions by government forces.

An article published in The New York Times On October 7, entitled "In Kashmir, a race against death, with no way of calling a doctor," he told doctors and patients in occupied Kashmir who say the repression has claimed many lives.

"At least a dozen patients have died because they couldn't call an ambulance or couldn't get to the hospital on time, most of them with heart-related diseases," said Sadaat, a doctor who didn't want to be identified by his doctor full. name for fear or retaliation said NYT.

Kashmir doctors have also accused Indian security forces of directly harassing and intimidating medical personnel, according to the NYT report.

Modi insisted on Sunday that the "security" measures were taken.

"We are working to normalize the situation. It will not take us four months to normalize the situation that had been so bad for 40 years," he said.

Faced with international pressure to alleviate people's suffering and restore normal life, Indian authorities announced last week that they would allow tourists to return to the region after ordering them to leave in August due to security concerns. However, tourists are unlikely to experience a "normal life" in the disputed area or to use mobile Internet or cell phones, which remain small.

Some tour operators expressed surprise at the decision of the Indian government.

"When everything is closed, what kind of tourist will run the risk of coming here without basic services such as telephones and public transport?" Said Bashir Ahmed, a tour operator whose business has been closed since August.

India "has always tried to use tourism as a sign of normalcy," said Nazir Ahmed, a Kashmir school teacher.