aljazeera--2019-09-04--India revokes Kashmirs special status

India revokes Kashmir's special status

Editor's note: This is an archived page. Click here for all the latest updates on India revoking Kashmir's special status.  The Indian government revoked the special status accorded to Indian-administered Kashmir in its constitution, the most far-reaching political move on the disputed region in nearly 70 years.  A presidential decree issued on August 5 revoked Article 370 of India's constitution that guaranteed special rights to the Muslim-majority state, including the right to its own constitution and autonomy to make laws on all matters except defence, communications and foreign affairs.  In the lead-up to the move, India sent thousands of additional troops to the disputed region, imposed a crippling curfew, shut down telecommunications and internet, and arrested political leaders.  The move has worsened the already-heightened tensions with neighbouring Pakistan, which said it would downgrade its diplomatic relations with India.  India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in full but rule it in part. The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two of their three wars over the disputed territory. A rebellion in Indian-administered Kashmir has been ongoing for three decades.  India's two main ports said they had been warned by the coastguard and intelligence officials that Pakistan-trained commandos had entered Indian waters to carry out underwater attacks on port facilities.  The Mundra Port, run by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, and the state-owned Kandla Port asked their employees and ship operators to be vigilant, port officials and the ports said, in advisories seen by Reuters news agency.  Intelligence shared by government officials suggested that "Pakistan-trained commandos" had entered the Gulf of Kutch on the west coast to foment violence, the Kandla Port said in an advisory.  As India extends its military lockdown in Kashmir, there are fears that the resistance movement may adopt a strategy of violence to fight against the punishing measures - which include mass arrests, a communications shutdown and alleged police brutality and harassment.  Chants of "one solution, gun solution" have recently resounded at protests in the Muslim-majority Indian-administered region, which on August 5 was subjected to a complete military crackdown after the Hindu-nationalist ruling party revoked Article 370, which had granted Kashmir a degree of autonomy.  Pakistan's military has successfully carried out a training launch of a surface-to-surface ballistic missile, at a time of heightened tension with neighbouring India over the disputed region of Kashmir, a spokesman said.  "Pakistan successfully carried out night training launch of ... missile Ghaznavi capable of delivering multiple types of warheads," the spokesman for the armed forces, Major General Asif Ghafoor, said on Twitter.  The missile can deliver a warhead to a distance of up to 290km.  Satya Pal Malik, the New Delhi-appointed governor of Jammu and Kashmir, said the central government planned to hire tens of thousands of workers. Malik called it the largest recruitment drive in the region, with officials planning to fill "50,000 vacancies in various government departments in the next few months".  At a news conference in the main city of Srinagar, Malik also announced that the government was willing to commit $700m to help apple farmers. Indian authorities believe the move will expand the region's economy, to which horticulture, particularly apple orchards, is critical.  India's unilateral actions in Kashmir pose "grave" risks to regional peace and are aimed at altering the demography of the Muslim-majority region, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan said in phone calls with the leaders of Jordan and France.  French President Emmanuel Macron underlined the importance of "resolving all outstanding issues through peaceful means", according to a statement from Khan's office.  Jordan's King Abdullah called for de-escalation and peaceful resolution of the dispute, Khan's office said. He also pledged to consult other countries over the situation.  At least 500 incidents of protest have broken out in Indian-administered Kashmir since New Dehli stripped the region of its autonomy and imposed a military clampdown more than three weeks ago, a senior government official has told the AFP news agency.  The official said at least 500 protests and incidents of stone-throwing have occurred since August 5, with more than half taking place in the main city of Srinagar.  India's top court is taking up legal challenges to the government's decision to revoke Indian-administered Kashmir's special status and has asked the government to explain its stance to the court.  The Supreme Court held a preliminary hearing on the petitions and said five judges will start a regular hearing in October.  It ordered the federal government to file its replies to 14 petitions and inform the court about the media restrictions imposed in Kashmir.  Rahul Gandhi, leader of India's main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, has said Kashmir is India's internal issue and Pakistan "instigates and supports" violence in the region.  "I disagree with this Govt. on many issues. But, let me make this absolutely clear: Kashmir is India's internal issue & there is no room for Pakistan or any other foreign country to interfere in it," Gandhi tweeted.  Pakistan's military has accused Indian troops of firing across the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region, killing two civilians and wounding three others.  It said in a statement that the dead included a 45-year-old man and a three-year-old girl, while the wounded were taken to hospital.  The Indian fire also burned three homes in the village of Nekrun near the heavily militarised LoC, it added.  The army did not say whether it returned fire and there was no immediate comment from India.  Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan is considering a complete closure of airspace to India and blocking Indian land trade to Afghanistan via Pakistan, according to the Pakistani minister for science and technology.  "PM is considering a complete closure of Air Space to India, a complete ban on use of Pakistan Land routes for Indian trade to Afghanistan was also suggested in cabinet meeting, legal formalities for these decisions are under consideration ... #Modi has started we'll finish!," Fawad Chaudhry wrote on Twitter.  The tweet gave no more details on why Pakistan would be considering the moves against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government now.  Pakistan had reopened its airspace in mid-July after almost five months after closing it in the wake of a military standoff with India.  The months of restrictions forced long detours that cost airlines millions of dollars.  More than a thousand students rallied in the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir to denounce India's downgrading of the special status of the portion of the disputed region it controls.  The demonstrators chanted "We want freedom" and denounced human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir.  Tuesday's rally in Muzaffarabad came a day after Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed to globally highlight the issue of Kashmir. He will address the UN General Assembly on September 27.  Deepak Lal came to Kashmir's main city of Srinagar in May hoping to find work as a painter. The 23-year-old travelled several hundred miles from his home state of West Bengal in eastern India to the disputed Himalayan region expecting to work during the summer and autumn months.  His plan was foiled when India's Hindu nationalist government imposed an unprecedented security lockdown in the territory earlier this month, followed by a contentious move to strip the region of its limited autonomy.  Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday brushed away criticism of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after the gulf nation gave Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi its highest civilian honour amid the lockdown in Kashmir.  He said India and the UAE have a "history of relations in connection with investment". Qureshi added that he will soon have a "meeting with the UAE foreign minister to inform him about the prevailing situation in India-held Kashmir".  A Kashmiri truck driver in Indian-administered Kashmir was killed as fresh clashes between the security forces and residents broke out, police said, amid a security and communications blackout that is now in its fourth week.  Noor Mohammed Dar, 42, was struck on the head as protesters hurled stones at security forces during a confrontation in the city of Srinagar.  The governor of Jammu and Kashmir state, Satya Pal Malik, has said there is no shortage of medicines or other essential commodities in the disputed region which has been under lockdown for more than three weeks.  "In fact, we delivered meat, vegetables and eggs to people's houses on Eid. Your opinion will change in 10-15 days," he told reporters in New Delhi as he defended the curfew.  Kannan Gopinathan, a 33-year-old Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer hailing from the southern state of Kerala, quit his government job, saying he has his "own conscience to answer to" over the crippling lockdown and denial of fundamental rights in Indian-administered Kashmir, Indian media reported.  "If you ask me what you were doing, when one of the world's largest democracies announced a ban on the entire state, and even violated the fundamental rights of the people, I should at least be able to reply that I quit my job," he told an Indian news portal.  Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a prominent separatist leader in Indian-administered Kashmir, has called on residents of the region to peacefully resist Indian rule in the disputed territory.  "It is our heartfelt appeal to the people of Jammu and Kashmir that we must continue to resist at this critical juncture ... We all can, and must, act according to our abilities; through action or word. People should organise peaceful protests and demonstrations in their areas of residence," the 89-year-old leader said in a statement.  Geelani, who has been held at his home since India's decision to revoke Kashmir's special status, also urged Pakistan to act decisively.  The statement was his first since India's move.  Modi was awarded the Order of Zayed medal by the UAE's crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (known by his initials MBZ), during a visit to the capital Abu Dhabi.  But the award has sparked outrage among rights activists over the Modi government's clampdown in the Muslim-majority Kashmir region administered by New Delhi.  A delegation of India's main opposition politicians, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, has been sent back to the capital, New Delhi, after it reached Srinagar, news agency ANI reported.  Gandhi and others had flown in to the disputed region to observe the situation on the ground.  India's main opposition politicians, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, are expected to arrive in Srinagar, despite appeals by the government not to visit the tense region.  The political parties forming the opposition's delegation are the Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party, Trinamool Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Indian media reports said.  Pakistan has sent another letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), demanding intervention to end the "humanitarian crises" in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.  Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi has underscored the importance for the world community, including the UN, to call upon India to rescind its unilateral actions, lift the curfew and other draconian measures and restore fundamental rights of the Kashmiri people, the statement said.  Authorities in Srinagar have tightened security ahead of Friday prayers after there were calls for a protest march to a UN office.  Posters appeared overnight this week in Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir, calling for a march to the office of the UN Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan to protest against India's revocation of Jammu and Kashmir state's special autonomy.  More than 150 people have suffered injuries from tear gas and pellets in disputed Kashmir since Indian security forces launched a major crackdown this month, data from the region's two main hospitals shows.  At least 152 people reported to Srinagar's Shere Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) and Shri Maharaj Hari Singh hospital with injuries from pellet shots and tear gas fire between August 5 and August 21, according to data acquired by Reuters news agency.  Major opposition parties in India have joined forces to protest against the government's clampdown in Indian-administered Kashmir , demanding the immediate release of political leaders and the restoration of communication services in the Himalayan region  Opposition figures addressed the New Delhi protest, which was organised by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a regional party from the southern state of Tamil Nadu.  "The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideological wing, RSS, are celebrating the abrogation of Article 370, while the majority of people don't even know what the Article is," Ghulam Nabi Azad, of the Indian National Congress, told the hundreds of people in the crowd.  The music videos began appearing on social media within hours of the announcement by India's Hindu-led nationalist government that it was stripping statehood from the disputed region of Kashmir that had been in place for decades.  The songs delivered a message to India's 250 million YouTube users about moving to the Muslim-majority region, buying land there and marrying Kashmiri women.       It is the latest example of a growing genre in India known as "patriotism pop" - songs flooding social media about nationalism and the country's burgeoning right-wing ideology.  "I arrived in Srinagar with my sister on August 1. Having grown up in Kashmir, I didn't think too much when I saw the shuttered tourist information desk at the airport and the military presence.  Driving home, I noticed that the military presence was larger than normal in what is already one of the most militarised zones in the world. It was the peak of the tourist season, thousands of Amarnath Yatra pilgrims were visiting, and with Eid and the wedding season around the corner, the streets were busy.  The following morning, I woke up early. My phone was buzzing with messages from friends and family asking if we were OK."  Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has ruled out seeking dialogue with India over the Kashmir issue, saying "there is nothing more we can do".  "There is no point in talking to them," Khan said in an interview with The New York Times. "I have done all the talking. Unfortunately, now when I look back, all the overtures that I was making for peace and dialogue, I think they took it for appeasement."  Pakistan has demanded the United Nations remove Indian actress Priyanka Chopra as a UN goodwill ambassador over her "support for war" amid heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.  In a letter to the UNICEF chief Henrietta Fore, Pakistan's Minister of Human Rights Shireen Mazari accused the 37-year-old actress and former Miss World of publicly endorsing the position of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government in Indian-administered Kashmir.  "Her jingoism and support for violations by the Modi government of international conventions and UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir, as well as support for war, including a nuclear war, undermines the credibility of the UN position to which she been elevated," Mazari said in the letter.  Separatist leaders in Indian-administered Kashmir have urged people to defy a ban and join a mass march after Friday prayers this week.  Hundreds of political leaders and activists, many of them separatists seeking Kashmir's secession from India, have been arrested and the appeal to the public came through posters that appeared overnight in the region's main city of Srinagar.  "Every person, young and old, men and women, should march after Friday prayers," the Joint Resistance Leadership, which represents all major separatist groups, said on one poster.  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to his British counterpart, Boris Johnson, about violent demonstrations over Kashmir outside the Indian embassy in London, the foreign ministry said.  Thousands of people, many waving Pakistani and Kashmiri flags, protested outside the embassy last week, on India's independence day, against Modi's withdrawal of Kashmir's special status.  In a telephone call with Johnson, Modi "referred to the violence and vandalism perpetrated by a large mob against the High Commission of India in London", India's foreign ministry said in a statement.  "Prime Minister Johnson regretted the incident and assured that all necessary steps would be taken to ensure safety and security of the High Commission, its personnel and visitors," the ministry said.  US President Donald Trump has reasserted his offer to mediate what he called an "explosive" situation in Kashmir.  Trump said he would raise the matter over the weekend with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 summit in France.  "Kashmir is a very complicated place. You have Hindus and you have the Muslims and I wouldn't say they get along so great," Trump told reporters at the White House.  "I will do the best I can to mediate," he added.  Two people, including a police officer, were killed in a gun battle between armed rebels and security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said on Wednesday.       The clash in the northern district of Baramulla was the first to be reported by the authorities since New Delhi revoked the autonomy of the part of Kashmir that it controls and imposed a curfew and communications lockdown earlier this month.  After August 5, when India revoked Kashmir's special status and followed the move with a military lockdown, Uzma Javed did not leave her house for days. Every few hours, she looked out of the window from her family's two-storey house in Srinagar, the largest city in Indian-administered Kashmir.  A 20-year-old student who usually lives in Kerala, Javed had returned home to spend Eid with her relatives. But instead of celebrating, she found herself caged in while outside, armed Indian paramilitary forces manned largely empty streets.  French President Emmanuel Macron will discuss tensions in the divided region of Kashmir with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi when the two meet in Paris this week, a French official said.       Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also weighed in on Kashmir telling Modi in a phone call that the issue was one for India and Pakistan to resolve between themselves through dialogue.       Macron and Modi are set to sit down for a working dinner at the Chateau de Chantilly outside Paris on Thursday ahead of a G7 summit in France this weekend, to which Modi has been invited.  Pakistan said it would take the Kashmir dispute with India to the International Court of Justice after New Delhi revoked special status for its portion of the region earlier this month.  "We have decided to take Kashmir case to the International Court of Justice," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told ARY News TV.  "The decision was taken after considering all legal aspects."  As the tough political talk on Kashmir has a direct effect on the lives of millions of people on both sides of the Line of Control, Al Jazeera talks to three key figures on the Pakistani side and asks: Will Pakistan be able to neutralise the Indian move; can diplomacy defuse tensions; and will other powers like China get involved, and if so, what could this mean for Kashmiris?  Security forces have detained 30 people overnight in Srinagar, local officials said, amid frequent demonstrations in the city despite a clampdown on phone and internet services, a ban on public gatherings and the detention of hundreds of political leaders and separatists.  "These arrests have been made in the areas where there has been intensifying stone pelting in the last few days," a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A local government official confirmed the latest detentions, Reuters news agency reported.  Government sources have told AFP news agency at least 4,000 people have been arrested in Indian-administered Kashmir since August 5, with some of them moved out of the disputed region as jails have run out of capacity.  For more than a week, the young men of Soura, a densely populated enclave in Indian-administered Kashmir's main city of Srinagar, have been taking turns to maintain an around-the-clock vigil at the entry points to their neighbourhood.  Soura, home to about 15,000 people, is becoming the epicentre of resistance to India's plans to remove the partial autonomy that was enjoyed by the Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir state.  The enclave has effectively become a no-go zone for the Indian security forces.  US President Donald Trump spoke with the prime ministers of India and Pakistan, urging them to reduce tensions over the disputed region of Kashmir.  "Spoke to my two good friends, Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi of India, and Prime Minister [Imran] Khan of Pakistan, regarding Trade, Strategic Partnerships and, most importantly, for India and Pakistan to work towards reducing tensions in Kashmir," Trump tweeted.  Main government offices and a few schools in Indian-administered Kashmir have reopened after two weeks of a clampdown in the disputed region.  Nearly 200 primary schools were ordered by the authorities to reopen in certain areas. However, attendance in schools remained scant, as many parents decided against sending their children amid heightened tensions in the state.  Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan extended his military chief's term by another three years, an official statement released by his office said. The decision comes amid the ongoing crisis in Kashmir, which has seen tensions escalate between India and Pakistan.  "General Qamar Javed Bajwa is appointed as Chief of Army staff for another term of three years from date of completion of current tenure," read the statement.  "The decision has been taken in view of the regional security environment."  He was first appointed as army chief in November 2016 by the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for a three-year term.  Some 190 primary schools reopened in Indian-administered Kashmir's main city of Srinagar, but most classrooms were empty as parents kept their children home.  Parents said their children would stay home until cellular phone networks were restored and they could be in contact with them.  Pakistan said Indian troops have fired across the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region, killing two civilians and wounding another.  Pakistan's foreign ministry said in a statement that civilian casualties occurred on Sunday because of "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by India in the border villages of Hot Spring and Chirikot.  The ministry said Pakistan summoned an Indian diplomat and lodged a protest over continued ceasefire violations, which "are a threat to regional peace".  Indian authorities have reimposed restrictions on movement in major parts of Srinagar after violent overnight clashes between residents and police in which dozens were injured, officials and witnesses said.  Two senior government officials told Reuters news agency that at least two dozen people were admitted to hospitals with pellet injuries.  They also reversed a decision to allow internet and mobile phone use in parts of the Jammu region, according to one official, amid concerns about the spread of rumours online.  A magistrate speaking to AFP news agency on condition of anonymity said at least 4,000 people were arrested in Indian-administered Kashmir and held under the Public Safety Act (PSA), a controversial law that allows authorities to imprison someone for up to two years without charge or trial.  "Most of them were flown out of Kashmir because prisons here have run out of capacity," the magistrate said, adding that he had used a satellite phone allocated to him to collate the figures from colleagues across the Himalayan territory amid a communications blackout imposed by authorities.  Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the international community to take steps to secure India's nuclear arsenal after New Delhi hinted a shift in its "no first use" policy.  "The World must also seriously consider the safety & security of India's nuclear arsenal in the control of the fascist, racist Hindu Supremacist Modi Govt. This is an issue that impacts not just the region but the world," he said in a tweet.  India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said while India had strictly adhered to the nuclear weapons doctrine of "no first use" policy, what would happen in the future will depend on circumstances.  Indian authorities have carried out a major crackdown against political leaders in Indian-administered Kashmir and arrested high-profile figures that include three former chief ministers of the Muslim-majority state.  The arrests coincided with the abrogation of the decades-old Article 370 of the Indian constitution that protected the demography of Jammu and Kashmir state and provided it with limited autonomy.  Gunfire has been exchanged across the heavily-militarised Line of Control (LoC) between Indian-administered and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.  The incident took place in Nowshera town of the Rajouri district in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.  Indian defence spokesman Colonel Aman Anand said that one soldier was killed allegedly by Pakistan forces. Pakistan has yet to comment on this latest development.  Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said the country was establishing a Kashmir desk at the ministry and at its embassies in foreign capitals.  He said this was decided to "lobby for Kashmiris and their right to self-determination" and "in order to carry out effective communication on the matter".  Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan welcomed the UN Security Council meeting that was held in New York on Friday.  He hailed the session as a "reaffirmation" of 11 previous UNSC resolutions on Kashmir, that gaurantees Kashmiris the right to self-determination.  Local police in the Jammu and Kashmir state said on Saturday that 17 out of 100 telephone exchanges were restored in the Kashmir Valley.  According to Al Jazeera correspondent Anchal Vohra, most of the landline telephone services in Jammu had been restored. Restrictions were tougher in Kashmir, where India's clampdown continues to be far more constraining.  The famous red dot that marks the story of Indian-administered Kashmir on social media came much before India scrapped the Muslim-majority region of its special status.  The decision to revoke Article 370 of India's constitution on August 5 was preceded by a heavy military build-up in the Himalayan valley, followed by a crippling lockdown now in its 12th day, and arrests of hundreds of political leaders and activists.  A few days after Jammu and Kashmir's special status was eradicated, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that the now-abolished Article 370 of India's constitution - the provision that had guaranteed special rights to the Muslim-majority region - had also hampered its economic development.  "There must be investment and job opportunities in Jammu and Kashmir," Modi told CNN-News 18. "No one goes there to invest."  US President Donald Trump told Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan that it was important India and Pakistan reduce tensions in Jammu and Kashmir through "bilateral dialogue," the White House said in a statement.  White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley said the two leaders in a telephone call also discussed building the growing relationship between the United States and Pakistan, citing momentum created during their recent meeting at the White House.  India's ambassador to the United Nations criticised international interference over Kashmir, after the Security Council held its first formal meeting on the disputed region in decades.  "We don't need international busybodies to try to tell us how to run our lives," Syed Akbaruddin told reporters in New York, adding that India's decision was an internal matter.  "If there are issues, they will be discussed, they will be addressed by our courts," he said.  Pakistan's ambassador to the UN said people in Indian-administered Kashmir "are not alone", adding that they "may be locked up ... but their voices were heard today".  Maleeha Lodhi was speaking to reporters after the Security Council met behind closed doors to discuss the situation in Kashmir for the first time in decades. She said that the meeting was called 72 hours after Pakistan's Foreign Minister wrote a letter requesting it in the wake of India's move.  "We are grateful to China in also joining us and calling this meeting," she said.  "The voice of the Kashmiri people, the voice of the people of occupied Kashmir has been heard today in the highest diplomatic forum of the world.  "They are not alone ... their plight, their hardship, their pain, their suffering, their occupation and the consequences of that occupation has been heard in the UNSC."  Lodhi said that the very fact this meeting had taken place is "testimony to the fact that this is an internationally recognised dispute".  The Chinese ambassador to the UN said the Security Council feared that the situation in Kashmir might worsen.  Speaking to reporters after the council wrapped up the closed-door meeting in New York, Zhang Jun said the situation in Kashmir is "already very tense and very dangerous".  He added that the members of the council generally feel India and Pakistan should both refrain from unilateral action over Kashmir.  The UN Security Council met behind closed doors to discuss the situation in Kashmir for the first time in decades at the request of China and Pakistan.  The UN's most powerful body was being briefed morning by Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco and General Carlos Humberto Loitey, the UN military adviser.  UN officials said the council session may be its first on Kashmir since the late 1990s, or possibly since the 1971 India-Pakistan war.  Russia's deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, told reporters as he headed into the meeting that Moscow was concerned about the latest developments, but he said it was "a bilateral issue".  Amnesty International Secretary-General Kumi Naidoo said in a statement that council members "need to remember that their mandate is to protect international peace and security - and they should seek to resolve the situation in a way that puts the human rights of the people in this troubled region at its centre."  Prime Minister Khan, has held a telephone conversation with Trump in which the two leaders discussed the events in Kashmir.  Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Khan shared his concern with Trump that the situation in Kashmir posed a danger to the region.  He said the conversation was part of the prime minister's outreach to world leaders about the developments in Kashmir.  There was no information about Trump's comments.  Scores of Pakistanis living in Turkey gathered outside the Pakistan Embassy in Ankara on Thursday evening for a candlelight vigil expressing their solidarity with the people of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.  With candles and posters in their hands, they were joined by many Turks, who said they had come to express support for the Kashmiri population.  India will begin restoring phone lines in Kashmir on Friday evening, a top official said, after a 12-day blackout following the stripping of the region's autonomy.  Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam did not make clear, however, whether mobile phones and internet connections would also be reinstated in the Muslim-majority northern region.  "You will see a gradual restoration (of telephone lines) from tonight and tomorrow onwards. You will find a lot of Srinagar functioning tomorrow morning," Subrahmanyam said, referring to the main city in the restive Kashmir Valley.  "Exchange by exchange they will be switching it on. Over the weekend you will have most of these lines functioning most probably," he told reporters.  He said the easing would "(keep) in mind the constant threat posed by terrorist organisations in using mobile connectivity to organised terrorist actions."  The first special UN Security Council session on Kashmir will take place today after 54 years.  In Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Al Jazeera's Osama Bin Javaid, said "expectations are really high" ahead of the session.  "The people are calling on the UN and the UNSC members to listen to the plight of the Kashmiris," said Javaid.  The UNSC move is being hailed as a diplomatic victory by Pakistan, but the government was wary of any "concrete steps to be taken to stop India or roll back whats its done in Kashmir".  While the Kashmir region remains locked down, Kashmiri diaspora is using social media to organise protests and mobilise opinion.  Amid the crisis, Stand With Kashmir, a grassroots advocacy group in the United States, posted a red dot on its Instagram account they had set up only months ago.  "We decided to use it [the red dot] as a campaign [to] try to at least do some kind of an initial social media organising to make people aware."  India will lift restrictions on people's movements and communication links in Kashmir in the next few days, the federal government told the Supreme Court on Friday.  The court was hearing a petition by a newspaper editor seeking restoration of telephone and internet services snapped this month, just before the government withdrew Kashmir's special status, to prevent protests.  The restrictions would be lifted in the "next few days", the government lawyer, Tushar Mehta, said. "The ground situation is being reviewed daily and the Supreme Court must trust the security agencies."  Pakistan's army said Indian troops fired across the Line of Control in the disputed Kashmir region, killing another soldier and bringing the death toll to six in less than 24 hours.  Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor in a tweet Friday said "another brave son of soil lost his life in the line of duty" in Buttal town.  On Thursday, Pakistan's army said at least three of its soldiers and five Indian soldiers were killed after a cross-border exchange of fire, prompting a denial by New Delhi that there were fatalities among its forces.  Indian troops detained a Kashmiri reporter working for a local newspaper in an overnight raid on his house in Southern Pulwama district, his family said.  Irfan Ahmad Malik, 28, works for Greater Kashmir, the largest daily newspaper in the Kashmir valley. It was not immediately clear why he had been detained.  More than 500 local leaders and activists have been detained in the past 12 days of the crackdown.  Several thousand people protested outside the Indian embassy in London against the country's move to strip the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir of its autonomy.  The protesters in the United Kingdom's capital held up signs reading "Kashmir is bleeding" and waved Kashmiri and Pakistani flags. Police separated them from a smaller pro-India counter-demonstration.  An Indian army spokesperson has denied the Pakistani army's statement that five Indian soldiers were killed in a cross-border exchange of fire in the disputed region of Kashmir.  "No casualties. This assertion is wrong," the spokesperson was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.  In a statement quoted by news agencies, the Indian army said that at about 7am, Pakistan violated a ceasefire between the two nations in the heavily militarised LoC.  At least three Pakistani soldiers and five Indian troops have been killed after an exchange of fire across the Line of Control in the disputed region of Kashmir, Pakistan's army has said.  Major General Asif Ghafoor, the chief spokesman of the Pakistan Armed Forces, said in a Twitter post on Thursday that Indian forces had increased firing along the contested border.  Pakistan is observing a 'Black Day' to coincide with India's independence day celebrations.  Newspaper issues carried black borders and politicians, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, replaced their social media pictures with black squares. Flags on government buildings flew at half-mast.  Nearly a 1,000 supporters of Hizbul Mujahideen rebel group marched through Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, holding black flags and shouting anti-India slogans.  The UN Security Council (UNSC) is expected to discuss the Kashmir issue on Friday, Radio Pakistan reported, citing diplomatic sources.  Pakistan's Geo News also reported the news quoting UNSC president Joanna Wronecka as saying: "The UNSC will discuss the Jammu and Kashmir situation behind closed doors most likely on August 16."  Amnesty International has asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lift the communications blackout and engage with the people of Jammu and Kashmir.  "It is a paradox that as India celebrates its 73rd independence day today, the people of Jammu and Kashmir continue to be subjected to a lockdown for the past 10 days," the rights group said in a statement.  Modi has defended his decision to revoke Kashmir's special status, saying the move is to ensure the idea of "one nation, one constitution", which he said will foster growth in the troubled region, at the 73rd-anniversary celebration of Indian independence in New Delhi.  "We don't believe in delaying solving problems, we also don't let problems fester," Modi said, saying two-thirds of both houses of Indian parliament approved the plan.  Millions in Indian-administered Kashmir are living under curfew after the government revoked the state's semi-autonomy.  Thousands of troops were sent to the Muslim-majority region, while telephone lines and internet connections are blocked.  Al Jazeera's The Stream looks at what lies in store for the people of Kashmir amid the ongoing lockdown.  A group of Indian activists, economists, writers and members of leftist organisations presented their observations of the situation in Kashmir in the capital New Delhi on Wednesday after returning from a five-day trip to the disputed region.  Kavita Krishnan, a left-wing activist, said the situation is "absolutely not normal," contrary to reports by several Indian news broadcasters.  Pakistan's foreign ministry said it has summoned an Indian diplomat to protest the killing of a civilian by Indian fire in disputed Kashmir.  The ministry said in a statement that a 38-year-old villager was killed on Tuesday by an "unprovoked cease-fire violation by Indian troops on the Pakistani side of Kashmir."  Restrictions in the Jammu region of Indian-administered Kashmir have been "completely removed", Indian news agency PTI said, quoting a senior police official.  "Restrictions imposed in Jammu have been completely removed and schools and other establishments there are functioning. Restrictions will continue in some places of Kashmir for some time," Additional Director General Munir Khan said, according to PTI.  India's move of revoking Article 370 and imposing a lockdown in Kashmir is a strategic blunder by Indian PM Narendra Modi, his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan has said while addressing legislators in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.  Khan visited Muzaffarabad on Pakistan's independence day as he reaffirmed his support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination amid heightened tensions with neighbouring India.  Shah Faesal, a former bureaucrat who launched a political party in Indian-administered Kashmir earlier this year, has been arrested at New Delhi airport and sent back to Srinagar, according to Indian media reports.  On Tuesday, Faesal had tweeted that Kashmir "will need a long, sustained, non-violent" movement for the restoration of the Muslim-majority region's special status under the Indian constitution.  Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has visited Pakistan-administered Kashmir as he reiterated his support to the Kashmiri people living in the Indian-administered part of the divided region.  Khan's visit to Muzzaffarad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, to mark the country's independence day came more than a week after New Delhi's decision to downgrade Kashmir's status.  Pakistan is observing its 72nd independence day in solidarity with the people of Kashmir this year.  While addressing a flag-hoisting ceremony in the capital, Islamabad, President Arif Alvi said that Pakistan has always stood by Kashmiris and would continue to do so, local media Dawn reported.  Restrictions on freedom of movement in Indian-administered Kashmir will be eased after India's independence day on Thursday, the state governor said; phone lines and the internet will remain cut off.  Satya Pal Malik told the Times of India that communications would remain blocked.  "In a week or 10 days, everything will be all right and we will gradually open lines of communication," Malik told the newspaper in an interview.  Amnesty International India condemned a decision by India's Supreme Court to allow New Delhi to continue a security crackdown and communications blackout in Indian-administered Kashmir.  Amnesty also urged New Delhi to ease restrictions and expressed "deep concern" over people's right to freedom of movement, expression and opinion, as well as the detention of political leaders and activists, and "the impairment of the press to freely report on the current developments and act as a bridge for the voices from the region".  The Pakistani government asked the UN Security Council to meet over India's decision revoking Indian-administered Kashmir's special status.  "Pakistan will not provoke a conflict. But India should not mistake our restraint for weakness," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi wrote in a letter to the council seen by Reuters news agency.  It was not immediately clear how the 15-member council would respond to the request. Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz told reporters at the UN that the council "will discuss that issue and take a proper decision".  Poland holds the presidency of the council for August.  The main city in Indian-administered Kashmir has turned into a vast maze of razor wire coils and steel barricades as drones and helicopters hover overhead.  Although the four million residents of the Kashmir Valley - where an armed conflict has simmered for decades - are used to blockades, they say the current one is something they have never seen before.  "The entire Srinagar city has been knitted in razor wire to seek our silence and obedience," resident Zameer Ahmed told The Associated Press news agency.  India's Supreme Court, in reviewing a petition for the immediate withdrawal of severe government restrictions in Kashmir, said the security crackdown and communications blackout should continue because the government needed more time to tackle the "sensitive" situation.  Attorney General KK Venugopal said: "We are reviewing the situation and lifting restrictions step by step," in the Supreme Court, according to legal reporting website Bar&Bench.;  An unprecedented security lockdown has kept people in Indian-administered Kashmir indoors for a ninth day, with residents running short of essentials under a near-constant curfew and communications blackout.  The lockdown is expected to last at least through Thursday, India's independence day.  An open letter signed by 69 human rights activists and organisations, lawyers, journalists and academics, addressed to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised concerns over the human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir.  The letter called on Modi to revoke the curfew, reinstate communication, release all those arbitrarily detained over the last few days, and restore the status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of India's constitution, which granted the Muslim-majority state considerable autonomy.  Hundreds of protesters defied a security lockdown in Indian-administered Kashmir on the first day of the Eid al-Adha holiday, as they marched on the streets of capital, Srinagar.  The protests lasted for a few hours after Eid prayers, before demonstrators dispersed peacefully.  "For Muslims, there are two days which are festive and sacred, and that's Eid ... but this is not our Eid. We are just mourning in Kashmir," a resident told Al Jazeera.  US President Donald Trump's offer of mediation on the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan is "not on the table anymore," Indian media reports quoting India's ambassador to the United States said.  "President Trump has made it very clear that his offer to mediate on Jammu and Kashmir is dependent on both India and Pakistan accepting it. Since India has not accepted the offer of mediation, he has made it clear that this is not on the table anymore," Harsh Vardhan Shringla told a US-based news channel.  India calls the part of Kashmir it administers its "internal affair" and rejects any mediation, while Pakistan, which also claims the Himalayan region in full, wants world powers to resolve the issue.  Indian actress Priyanka Chopra has been branded a hypocrite over a tweet she posted in February amid escalating tensions between neighbours India and Pakistan.  The incident, which was widely shared online, took place during a cosmetics event on Saturday in the US city of Los Angeles when audience member Ayesha Malik accused Chopra of "encouraging nuclear war against Pakistan".  People living in the disputed region of Kashmire have said they are afraid of escalating tension.  The disputed region is one of the world's most dangerous flashpoints between nuclear-armed rivals, Pakistan and India.    Al Jazeera's Osama Bin Javaid reports from the line of control in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.  US-based group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed concern over the continued lockdown and communications blackout in Indian-administered Kashmir.  "There has to be a rights respecting-approach to handle the situation in Kashmir, where people are able to speak to their loved ones, have access to communication, essential supplies and hospitals, but we are seeing none of that," Meenakshi Ganguly, HRW's South Asia director, told Al Jazeera from Mumbai.  "This is not a sustainable solution. If the Indian government has decided to impose restrictions ... they should ensure the Kashmiris are able to live their lives normally," she added.  Almost 300 Kashmiris and activists gathered in India's capital, New Delhi, to mark the Eid al-Adha celebration as Indian-administered Kashmir remains under lockdown for a week.  "I am here to express my solidarity with the people of Kashmir who have not been able to go home and are not able to talk to their parents because there is a total clampdown on communication," said activist Shabnam Hashmi. "We are not celebrating Eid today."  The Pakistani government has called for the Eid al-Adha celebration to be observed in a "simple manner" this year, to express solidarity with Kashmiris living on the Indian side of the divided region.  Pakistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi travelled to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, to offer Eid prayers at a mosque there.  In the southern city of Karachi, prayers were dedicated to Kashmiris in India. "We are together with our Kashmiri brothers," said resident Mohammad Adnan.  "We share their pain and grief. Today, special prayers were offered for them inside the mosque."  On the lawn of the district commissioner's office in Srinagar, the main city of Indian-administered Kashmir, residents circle a table, hoping their turn will come soon.  With phone and internet usage cut off during a week-long lockdown imposed by the Indian government, authorities are allowing locals to use a mobile phone to briefly speak to their loved ones outside the Muslim-majority state.  Indian troops imposed tight restrictions on mosques across Kashmir for the Eid al-Adha celebration, fearing anti-government protests over the stripping of the Muslim-majority region's autonomy, according to residents.  The Himalayan region's biggest mosque, the Jama Masjid, was ordered to be closed and people were only allowed to pray in smaller local mosques so that no big crowds could gather, witnesses said.  All phone lines and the internet remained cut off for an eighth day on Monday.  India has asked the International Tennis Federation to move their upcoming Davis Cup tie from Pakistan to a neutral venue due to escalating political tensions between the two nations.  The Indian team is scheduled to be in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, for the Asia/Oceania zone Group I tie to be held on September 14 and 15.  "We have asked ITF for a neutral venue because the situation is a bit unpredictable," All India Tennis Association (AITA) president Praveen Mahajan told AFP on Sunday.  "I believe it is a reasonable request because of the current state of affairs."  Mushaal Hussein Mullick, the wife of Yasin Malik, a leading Kashmiri rebel leader held by India, has appealed to the world to "wake up" and intervene as the situation in the disputed territory remains tense.  Mullick told British broadcaster Sky News that "time is running short", and that her husband's "only hope is that the world will come forward".  Yasin Malik used to head pro-independence group the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), which was banned in March as part of India's crackdown on separatist groups.  Malik was arrested a month later and is being held at Tihar prison in New Delhi. "He is so weak and doctors ... they've all said that he's going to die like this," his wife said.  Pakistan's foreign minister has strongly criticised the Indian government for its revocation of Kashmir's autonomous status.  In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera in Muzaffarabad, Qureshi said: "Pakistan is watching the situation carefully, and so is the world."  "We are concerned about the genocide that we feel can take place, or perhaps is taking place right now, because we have no idea what's going on in the Indian-occupied Kashmir right now," he argued.  "When they lifted the curfew for a few hours we saw thousands of people protesting in the streets, so it's an evolving situation."  Watch the interview at the video below.  Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has said India's decision to scrap the special status of Kashmir was inspired by the "Nazi ideology".  "The curfew, crackdown and impending genocide of Kashmiris in IOK [India-Occupied Kashmir as Islamabad refers to Indian-administered Kashmir] is unfolding exactly [according] to RSS ideology inspired by Nazi ideology," Khan tweeted.  Pakistan has downgraded its diplomatic relations and suspended bilateral trade over New Delhi's decision to revoke Article 370 of the Indian constitution and divide the Muslim-majority state into two "union territories".  Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir said they have eased restrictions in most parts of the main city of Srinagar ahead of the Islamic celebration of Eid al-Adha.  In a tweet, local magistrate Shahid Choudhary said more than 250 ATMs have been made functional and bank branches opened for people to withdraw money before the celebration.  There was no immediate independent confirmation of reports by authorities that people were visiting shopping areas for Eid purchases as all communications and the internet remain cut off for a seventh day.  The dream of Kashmiri Pandits' return to their homeland in the Kashmir Valley has surfaced once again with the Indian government's stealthy abrogation on August 5 of Article 370, the constitutional provision that has secured the autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir state since India's independence in 1947.  With the associated revocation of Article 35 A, which had allowed the state to define permanent residency, the doors were effectively thrown open for all Indians to buy land in Kashmir.  Across news coverage, after the decision was made, many Kashmiri Pandits - native Brahmin Hindus of the Kashmir Valley - who had left their homes in Kashmir in the 1990s, were seen celebrating. They were hopeful that they could now return "on their own terms".  China has pledged its "full support" for Islamabad's plan to take up India's actions in Kashmir at the United Nations Security Council, according to Pakistan's foreign minister.  "I have shared with China that the Pakistan government has decided to take this issue to UN Security Council. We will be needing China's help there," Shah Mahmood Qureshi told a news conference in Beijing.  "China has assured full support to Pakistan," he added.  Qureshi said he planned to approach Indonesia and Poland, both non-permanent members of the 15-strong Security Council, for their support.  The chief of staff of Iran's armed forces cautioned Pakistan and India to avoid any "hasty decisions" in Kashmir, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.  "The parties are expected to refrain from any hasty decision on the fate of the [Kashmir] region, without regards to the people's will," Major General Mohammad Baqeri was quoted by Fars.  Baqeri made the remark during a telephone call with Pakistan's army chief.  Big queues formed in Indian-administered Kashmir's main city on Saturday outside cash machines and food stores as authorities eased a crippling curfew to let the Muslim-majority region prepare for the Eid al-Adha celebration.  But huge numbers of troops remained on the streets a day after security forces used tear gas to break up a demonstration by about 8,000 people against the government's move to revoke Kashmir's autonomy, they added.  Pakistan said on Saturday it had cancelled a bus linking Lahore with India's capital New Delhi, the last remaining public transport link between the neighbours.  Islamabad reacted with fury this week after India revoked the special status for the portion of Kashmir that it controls, calling the action illegal, a claim New Delhi denies.  Pakistan has already cut two rail links, suspended bilateral trade and expelled India's ambassador, all part of what it called a diplomatic effort to protest against the decision.  The service, known as the "friendship bus", has long been seen as a symbolic link between the two countries. Launched in 1999, it has run almost continuously since, including throughout the last crisis between the two countries in February.  The National Conference (NC), one of the main pro-India political parties in Indian-administered Kashmir, has moved the Supreme Court over the government's decision to revoke the region's special status, Indian media reports said.  A petition filed by two NC leaders has challenged the Hindu nationalist government abrogating Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which granted the Muslim-majority state its special status.  Their plea has also challenged the decision to divide the state into two "union territories", the reports said, adding that the party considered the two moves "illegal".  NC leader Omar Abdullah has been under arrest since the Kashmir clampdown began on Monday, along with rival Mehbooba Mufti and hundreds of other leaders and activists. Abdullah and Mufti are former chief ministers of the Jammu and Kashmir state.  Kashmiri activist and sportswoman Fatima Anwar has called on Turkey and Muslim-majority countries to play an active role in resolving the current crisis in Indian-administered Kashmir.  "The people of Kashmir want the Muslim world to come forward and play their role to get this core issue resolved," Anwar said in an open letter to various heads of states on Twitter.  "We want to use our right of self-determination, and most importantly, we need our basic right to live," she wrote. "We will never allow India to make Jammu and Kashmir another Palestine."  A politician from India's ruling party has welcomed the stripping of special rights from Kashmir, saying it clears the way for Indians from outside the territory to marry women from there, according to the ANI news agency.  Manohar Lal Khattar, who is also the chief minister of Haryana state, was quoted as saying: "Our minister OP Dhankar [cabinet minister] used to say he will bring daughters in law from Bihar [state]. Nowadays people are saying that path to Kashmir has been cleared. Now we will bring girls from Kashmir."  Under Kashmir's previous status, residents of Jammu and Kashmir had exclusive rights to property and state government jobs, among other privileges, though women marrying non-residents stood to lose those benefits.  China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Pakistani counterpart that Beijing was "seriously concerned about the turbulence and escalating tensions" in Kashmir, according to a statement.  Wang, who met Shah Mahmood Qureshi for hastily arranged talks, said China "will continue to firmly support the Pakistan side in safeguarding its legitimate rights," the statement said.  China, which also controls a section of Kashmir, said the issue should be resolved at the United Nations.  Qureshi released a video statement after the meeting in which he added: "I am very pleased that China once again proved today that it is Pakistan's reliable friend".  India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is to visit Beijing from Sunday for talks with Wang.  Security forces in Srinagar have fired tear gas and shot in the air to disperse thousands of people demonstrating against India's stripping of the region's autonomy, local sources have told Al Jazeera.  The protests in the main city of Indian-administered Kashmir took place after Friday prayers, Al Jazeera's Priyanka Gupta said, reporting from the Indian capital, New Delhi.  "Despite the unprecedented security lockdown, thousands of people demonstrated in Srinagar and were met with live fire, tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets," she said, citing sources in the city.  The protest was the "largest of its kind" since the Indian government's move on Monday. Read the detailed report here.  The magistrate for Jammu district in Indian-administered Kashmir said all schools in the Hindu-majority area "may resume their functioning" from Saturday onwards.  The statement by Sushma Chauhan also lifted a ban on gatherings of more than four people in the district.  Local media posted videos and photos from Indian-administered Kashmir showing dozens of people walking on the streets of Srinagar for the first time this week to offer prayers at mosques guarded by police.  The main Jama Masjid mosque in Srinagar's old quarter was closed, however, with policemen in riot gear posted every few metres around the building. One officer said he faced regular attacks from young people throwing stones.  "Every time we have embraced India, they have cut our throats," read a handwritten poster at another mosque, which also urged Kashmiris not to sell land and to hold protests after Eid prayers on Monday.  Witness reports emerged of Indian troops using excessive force on protesters in Indian-administered Kashmir, causing life-threatening injuries.  "The government will deny these injuries as there is no proper reporting or documentation of these incidents. We won't be able to know about most of the casualties."  Pakistan said it will halt the last train service running to India.  "We have decided to shut down the Thar Express as well," Pakistan's Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed told reporters.  On Thursday, Pakistan suspended the Samjhauta Express, its main train service to India, and banned Indian films.  Authorities in Pakistan and Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir are bracing for protests on Friday.  Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said two protests were scheduled in the Pakistani capital after Friday prayers.  "Organisers of one protest have threatened to march to the Indian High Commission which is located in Islamabad's red zone," he said.  Priyanka Gupta, reporting for Al Jazeera from New Delhi, said the government was monitoring the situation in Kashmir very closely.  "The Friday prayers took place under heavy security. There have been sporadic clashes in the last four days but we're expecting more protests happening later on Friday," she said.  Demonstrations against India's move in Kashmir have been taking place around the world.  Thousands of villagers living along the heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC) dividing Pakistan- and Indian-administered Kashmir have migrated to safer places fearing artillery fire exchanges across the border.  "There is fear in the area and residents are preparing to leave their homes if a cross-border exchange of fire takes place. The LoC is just three kilometres from where we are," Muhammad Mukhtar, a 38-year-old vet, told Al Jazeera.  The strict curfew in Kashmir that has entered a fifth day was eased for Friday prayers, according to the police chief.  "People will be allowed to go to the area-specific mosques for the prayers in most parts of the Srinagar city," the region's police chief, Dilbagh Singh, told The Associated Press.  The relaxing of the curfew was temporary but a precise timeframe was not given.  Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is visiting China as part of efforts to pressure India to reverse its decision to revoke the special status of the disputed region of Kashmir.  Shah Mahmood Qureshi will meet with Chinese leaders on Friday. Before leaving for Beijing, Qureshi said he will apprise Islamabad's "trusted friend" about the situation.  Pakistan says it is considering a proposal to approach the International Court of Justice over India's action.  Silence cloaked the centre of Srinagar on Friday, its once-teeming streets blocked with spools of concertina wire. Every road was sealed off. The population forced to remain indoors while thousands of Indian soldiers in camouflage were on patrol, carrying guns at their waists.  Friday marked the fourth day since the main city in Indian-administered Kashmir was under siege.  Muslim worshippers were expected to attend Friday prayers at mosques across the region later on Friday.  Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the UN, has appealed for "maximum restraint" as tensions escalate between India and Pakistan over New Delhi's move on Kashmir.  Recalling the 1972 Simla Agreement, in which New Delhi and Islamabad committed to bilateral negotiations to resolve their dispute over Kashmir, Guterres called on "all parties to refrain from taking steps that could affect" the region's status.  In his statement, Guterres also expressed concern over reports of "restrictions on the Indian-side of Kashmir", saying they could exacerbate the human rights situation in the region.  India's ANI news agency said Indian-administered Kashmir's top civil servant has ordered government employees "who are working at divisional level, district level and those serving in civil secretariat, to report back to their duties with immediate effect".  All schools in the southern district of Samba will also reopen on Friday, the agency said, citing an official statement.  India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged a "new era" of economic growth in Kashmir following his government's decision to strip the territory of its special rights.  But in his first address to the nation since the move, Modi did not address the four-day-long security lockdown or communications blackout in the region.  He described Article 370 as an "obstacle" to the region's development and said the decision to abolish the provision will free Kashmir from "terrorism and separatism".  The move will also create new jobs and sports opportunities for Kashmir's youth, Modi said, also pledging to develop the region's film and herbal medicine industries.  Shruti Kapila, lecturer in history at the Cambridge University in the UK, said there was "widespread popular support" in India for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) decision to scrap disputed Kashmir's special status.  The move was a key campaign pledge of the BJP, which registered a landslide victory in the general election in April- May, she noted. "This mandate was sought on the back of national security after the Pulwama attack in mid-February," she said, referring to a suicide attack that killed at least 40 Indian soldiers in Indian-administered Kashmir.  "Both in the upper and lower houses of parliament, there was very little in the nature of resistance .. by and large, there has been cross-party consensus, even by smaller regional parties who may feel threatened by such a precedent which strengthens the hands of central powers in India," she said from New Delhi.  "Secondly, I also think the trigger point is also the moving away of the United States from this region ... There is no real international multilateral body to which this can be addressed to," she added.  Pakistan has said it would ban the screening of Indian films in the country's cinemas, as tensions b


aljazeera--2019-09-04--Transgender women face systemic discrimination in Lebanon HRW

Transgender women face systemic discrimination in Lebanon: HRW

Transgender women face "systemic discrimination" in various aspects of life in Lebanon, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), which called on parliament to pass anti-discrimination law.  The New-York-based rights group said in its report, published on Tuesday, that transgender women face "systemic discrimination in education, employment, housing, and the provision of healthcare" in the country.  The report is based on 50 interviews with Lebanese transwomen and transgender refugees and asylum seekers from other countries in the Middle East - all of whom reside in Lebanon.  This discrimination is exacerbated by a lack of resources "tailored for trans people's needs" and by their "difficulty in obtaining identification documents that reflect their gender identity and expression," the report said.  Many of these interviewed by the group reported difficulty in obtaining stable jobs in the country due to the lack of official identification documents that match their gender expression.  Though this can be changed via a court ruling, those interviewed by HRW said procedural obstacles including "high fees, reluctance to engage in protracted court proceedings, and lack of legal assistance" has discouraged them from seeking to change their gender markers.  "Legal gender recognition is an essential element of other fundamental rights including the right to privacy, the right to freedom of expression, rights related to employment, education, health, and the ability to move freely," HRW noted.  Transwomen also often face routine violence, the threat of violence and arrest, and are denied police protection, according to the report.  While Lebanese law does not explicitly criminalise being transgender, article 534 of the penal code punishes "any sexual intercourse contrary to the order of nature" with up to one year in prison.  According to the findings of the report, this law has been used to enforce arrests on transgender women who are misidentified as "gay men."  They are also targeted under laws of "violating public morality," "incitement to debauchery," and "secret prostitution".  Conditions under which they are held include "being denied food and water, the right to make a phone call, being placed in overcrowded cells, and physically abused".  Transwomen regularly face and are forced to escape domestic violence. HRW says 38 out of the 50 interviewed transwomen reported experiencing "extreme violence" by a male relative.  Maria, 23, says she was "beaten, burned, and tied up in metal chains" by her father.  "He beat me every day and kept saying, 'Be a man.' He wanted to beat the woman out of me," she was quoted by HRW as saying.  Others report feeling unsafe in public spaces, fearing harassment and physical abuse.  "Every time I get targeted on the street, I run for my life. Because first, it's just one person, then I find a gang of six or seven men around me and they want my blood," 24-year-old Bella said.  These fears are often intensified in the case of transgender refugees, HRW says.  Natalie, a 22-year-old Syrian national, said: "My uncle broke my nose, my teeth, and stabbed me in the eye.  "When he found out that I'm in Lebanon, he said, 'I will slaughter you.'"  There are more than one million Syrian refugees in Lebanon. While the country faces economic and political challenges, Lebanese leaders have repeatedly urged Syrian refugees to return to their country, which is now in its ninth year of civil war.  HRW called on the Lebanese parliament to pass "comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation", and on security forces to halt the arrest of transgender women on the basis of their gender identity.


aljazeera--2019-09-08--Animal slaughter ruling in Belgium stirs religious freedom debate

Brussels and Wallonia, Belgium - Inside his Brussels office, animal rights activist Michel Vandenbosch opens a large book he wrote about the Global Action in the Interest of Animals, or GAIA, Belgium's leading animal rights organisation.  Vandenbosch, its president, points to photos of a 2014 rally in Belgium's capital, attended by thousands of people calling for a national ban on slaughtering animals such as cattle, sheep and goats without stunning them first.  "When you cut an animal's throat, without stunning, it still feels pain," said Vandenbosch.  GAIA produced a video showing animals contorting after a knife cuts the blood vessels in the neck.  "If you take the scientific evidence really seriously, then these kinds of habits should change."  On September 1, Vandenbosch and fellow supporters of the ban claimed a victory when the second such law went into effect in Brussels.  It first went into effect in Flanders - the northern, mostly Dutch-speaking region - in January. Now, the law must be respected in the southern, mostly French-speaking region, called Wallonia. Flanders and Wallonia are Belgium's two largest regions.  Back in 2017, Wallonia's parliament voted nearly unanimously in favour of the ban - just three members abstained.  Only Brussels, Belgium's third region, has not imposed the ban.  Belgium has three animal welfare ministers for each of its regions - Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia.  Some claim the bans are discriminatory, but Vandenbosch rejects framing them as a target on Muslims or Jews.  "It does not apply only to members of religious communities," he said. "It does apply to each and every single Belgian citizen period, whatever his religious beliefs may be."  He explains his organisation took on the cause around 1995, when Belgium's far right began pushing for a religious slaughter ban.  Activists like him feared that the far right had tinged the issue with Islamophobia.  "This would have meant a taboo on the whole issue," he said, so GAIA focused it on animal wellbeing.  But many Muslims and Jews in Belgium say they are outraged because, according to their religious laws, animals must be in perfect health before slaughter.  To them, the options for stunning - making animals unconscious - mean harming an animal before slaughter, which is forbidden.  They say cutting the throat causes the least amount of pain for animals.  A number of Muslim and Jewish groups filed a petition with Belgium's Constitutional Court against the Flemish law. The ruling would also affect the new Wallonia law.  Belgium's Constitutional Court has asked the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg a "question prejudicielle" - a prejudicial question, to help it make the decision whether the ban needs to change, whether it can be upheld or if it needs to be struck down.  The European Court is expected to answer between this autumn and the early new year, and then the decision returns to the Belgian court to make.  The Belgian Federation of Jewish Organizations is among the groups that filed the petition.  Its president, Yohan Benizri, says when politicians make decisions on religious laws, they trample on the separation between church and state.  The bans infringe on religious freedom, he adds, and are undemocratic.  "The politicians are not there to define what is permitted and not permitted under religious law," Benizri said. "When minorities say this really affects us, I think people should listen."  The European Union has made stunning obligatory since 1979, but member states may make religion-based exemptions.  Other EU countries that have passed slaughter bans include Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Slovenia. Only Belgium's ban has led to a challenge all the way to an EU court.  "This is one of the first cases of a conflict between what I would call modernity on the one hand and religious freedom on the other," said Caroline Sagesser of the Centre de Recherche et d'Information Socio-Politiques, or CRISP, in Brussels.  "Now the European Union will have to take a stand and on an issue that the European Union does not like to decide upon," Sagesser added. "Generally speaking the Union has always let the member states decide for themselves on everything that covers relationship between church and state public funding and so on."  In the meantime, shops like El Halal, located in Charleroi, a city in Wallonia, have had to comply as of September 1.  They will likely provide imported meat from nearby EU countries, says employee Halim Aissani.  "It's not about the Belgian label," Aissani said. "It's about quality and for sure other countries have quality meat."  Instead, the problem, as he sees it, is how many Muslims now feel in their own country.  "We think we are a part of Belgium people, we feel Belgian, and these kinds of things show us that we are not accepted by the Belgian community," Aissani said.  Other halal meat consumers worry about a jump in prices.  At El Halal, where Aissani works, restaurant owner Abdelhak Ouelbani waited for his order of salami and ground beef.  A warm, red light glowed above, from a neon sign bearing the store's name.  "It will get a lot more expensive for us," Ouelbani said. "It will be hard to come and buy meat that's halal. I don't understand why before it was allowed and now it's not. Years pass and things change, and then it's always the people who pay."  Back in Brussels, Mustapha Chairi, a cofounder and president of Collective Against Islamophobia in Belgium, said generally, Muslims can find common ground with GAIA, but not on these bans, which he said "restrict the fundamental rights of citizens".  Still, Chairi sees one silver lining: maybe the ban will lead Muslims to eat less meat, he added.  "And with this kind of approach you influence the action on climate change," Chairi said, in reference to how meat production adds to global warming.  Experts predict in the coming years, similar conflicts will arise.  Sagesser, the researcher at CRISP, described conflicts "between religious norms and some principles which have become important in modern society.  "I think circumcision, for instance, is another issue where you may see this conflict between principle of protecting the child on the one hand and respect for religious freedom on the other."


aljazeera--2019-11-08--Cambodia's Sam Rainsy faces hurdles as he attempts to return home

Phnom Penh, Cambodia It appears November 9 will come and go without Cambodia's opposition making its promised return after leader Sam Rainsy failed to board a flight from Paris to Thailand on Thursday.  Rainsy, acting president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), said he had a ticket to Bangkok arriving on November 8, and from there would enter Cambodia by land the following day.  Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, however, ordered that Rainsy not be permitted to enter the country.  "They say they have received very high-up instruction now to allow me to board," Rainsy told reporters at Charles de Gaulle airport, claiming he was barred from boarding his Thai Airways flight.  An airline employee told the Associated Press news agency that Rainsy did not have a valid ticket.  Earlier this week, Rainsy posted a photo on social media of his ticket, along with his booking reference.  The booking, checked by Al Jazeera, appeared to show that Rainsy had reserved a flight leaving Paris November 9, not November 7.  Ear Sophal, a Cambodian-American associate professor of World Affairs and Diplomacy at Occidental College, said a third party could have changed Rainsy's ticket after he tweeted it, or the airline may have considered his ticket invalid because he was barred from the country.  "I have no reason to doubt his true and genuine desire to return to Cambodia and I see no evidence he showed up without a ticket," he said, adding that Rainsy and Sochua should simply "keep trying" to return.  Multiple Cambodian social media users did question why Rainsy chose to fly with state-owned Thai Airways after Chan-ocha's statement.  Meanwhile, CNRP vice president Mu Sochua was detained while entering Malaysia on Wednesday night, before eventually being released on Thursday evening.  Prime Minister Hun Sen had earlier requested that all ASEAN countries arrest CNRP leaders and deport them to Cambodia.  Sochua was previously detained in Thailand, before being deported to the US where she is also a citizen.  The CNRP was dissolved in 2017 after making significant gains in that year's local commune elections, allowing Prime Minister Hun Sen to claim all 125 seats in Parliament in the 2018 national election.  Rainsy and Sochua both pledged to return to Cambodia on November 9, despite facing charges widely seen as politically motivated, in order to lead a peaceful uprising against the government.  In a message to Al Jazeera shortly after her release in Kuala Lumpur, Sochua said she is "stronger than before."  Two other CNRP youth activists were detained in Kuala Lumpur earlier on Wednesday, and both were released alongside Sochua.  "I found the two youths in detention and we succeeded to all get out," she said, adding that she still plans to return to Cambodia by land.  In a statement to Al Jazeera, Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said her detention was "ludicrous and unacceptable".  The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights also condemned her detention and welcomed her release.  "We hope that this will inspire Thailand to allow Sam Rainsy into the country and all other ASEAN countries to respect people's fundamental rights," said Philippine legislator Teddy Baguilat.  While professing a desire to arrest Rainsy and other CNRP leaders, Hun Sen has gone to great lengths to ensure that they cannot enter the country.  He has deployed thousands of troops to the Thai border, issued arrest warrants to countries in the region, and threatened any airline that carries Rainsy to Cambodia with legal punishment.  Around 50 opposition supporters have also been arrested in Cambodia in recent months, for allegedly supporting a coup.  "If he wants to arrest him then why not let him back into the country? It's very laughable," said Vanna Hay, the deputy secretary-general of CNRP Overseas.  Speaking in Yangon on Thursday, Hay said he was disappointed that some ASEAN countries have interfered by attempting to block the CNRP's return, and thanked Myanmar for letting him come.  "This is between me and Hun Sen. Not me and Myanmar government and Hun Sen. So I hope that Myanmar government will not arrest me tonight," he said.  Hay flew to Bangkok later that day, where he planned to meet Rainsy. "If he does not go back by November 9 the people will lose hope," he said.  But Sophal said the Cambodian people should not give up just because the "symbols" of resistance were prevented from returning.  "There are millions of people in Cambodia who hold their future in their own hands," he said.  Yi Yeth, a 38-year-old tuk-tuk driver in Phnom Penh, said he doesn't expect Rainsy to arrive on November 9 any more, but he does not blame him either.  "He tried to come to Thailand, but Thai government not allowed him to enter their country. For me, even two or three months later I will still want him to come back," he said.  Yeth said the current "one-party" government "doesn't care about the people" and Cambodia needs a return to multi-party democracy to ensure that the government has an incentive to work for the people.  Yon Sineat reported from Phnom Penh, while Andrew Nachem reported from Bangkok.


aljazeera--2019-11-19--Chile opposition files 'constitutional accusation' against Pinera

Antofagasta, Chile - Opposition legislators in Chile formally presented a motion Tuesday to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Sebastian Pinera.  The "constitutional accusation" is rooted in human rights violations allegedly committed during the ongoing month-long crisis. Nationwide protests against inequality and injustice continue, as do police crackdowns. • Chile agrees to hold referendum on constitution: 5 things to know  The accusation is "due to the grave, repeated, generalised and systematic violations of the fundamental rights of people carried out by agents of the state in the past month," opposition legislator Carmen Hertz said Tuesday in a public statement announcing the motion presented by representatives from several left-wing parties.  Constitutional accusations need between 10 and 20 backers to proceed. Tuesday's had 11, but a previous attempt by a different political force failed to gather the minimum 10 signatures. The motion is unlikely, however, to gain majority support among legislators to move forward.  The human rights situation has compromised the honour of the nation, said Hertz, referring to one of the constitutional bases for impeachment. Should the accusation proceed from a commission of randomly selected legislators and eventually be passed by both levels of the bicameral congress, Pinera would be removed from office.  "It is not possible that this country continue with political impunity, moral impunity and social impunity, which has been a very important component in triggering social protests," said Hertz.  In a statement Sunday night, Pinera acknowledged there were cases of abuses by security forces and instances when human rights were not respected.  "In some cases, protocols were not respected. There was excessive use of force. Abuses or crimes were committed," he said, adding that the government is committed to investigating and prosecuting those cases.  Secondary student protests last month against a Santiago subway fare rise sparked nationwide mass protests that hit the month mark on Monday. Pinera deployed the military during a nine-day state of emergency in October, and police have been cracking down on protests throughout the crisis.  Calls for Pinera's resignation were scrawled in graffiti on walls in cities around the country. Some protesters, social movements and opposition politicians have also been calling for the resignation of Police chief Mario Rozas.  Over the past month, human rights groups have repeatedly claimed that human rights violations have been systemic, not isolated incidents. Ruling and opposition politicians announced a "peace agreement" on Friday and a plan for a new constitution, but the police crackdown on demonstrators has continued.  At least 24 people have been killed amid the crisis, including five by military and police forces. The National Human Rights Institute has filed 384 legal actions against state entities, including 273 for alleged torture and other cruel treatment.  The institute has documented 2,391 people hospitalised for injuries, including 222 with severe eye injuries, roughly 75 percent of which were caused by projectiles fired by security forces. The institute has also visited 6,362 people detained in custody, including 759 minors.  "There's a policy of terror," said Juan Hun, 50, a consultant in Antofagasta, a city 1,400km (860 miles) north of the capital.  "The government is criminalising social movements, students, and residents," he told Al Jazeera.  Thousands of Chileans rallied on Monday to mark one month since protests began. In Antofagasta, police used tear gas and a water cannon on a march, but protesters regrouped. Police filled a downtown plaza with tear gas to disperse the crowd, and scattered protests, barricades, skirmishes and tear gas continued well into the night.  "This is going to continue," Hun said of the ongoing protests. "There is a lot of outrage. There is a lot of inequality in this country."


aljazeera--2019-12-10--No Friday prayers in over 4 months in Kashmir's largest mosque

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir - "Don't click any pictures. Run away. If they find out that you are journalists, they will beat you up."  These were the words of a local policeman posted at one of the pickets at Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in Indian-administered Kashmir's main city of Srinagar.  The "they" he referred to was a battery of paramilitary troopers deployed around the square leading to the 600-year-old mosque. • Anger over India's diplomat calling for 'Israel model' in Kashmir • Out of Sight in Kashmir • Will India's lockdown in Kashmir ever end?  Since August 5, when the disputed Himalayan region was stripped of its partial autonomy and put under a crippling lockdown, padlocks have been hanging from the doors of the famous mosque.  Later in October, the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was formally divided into two federally-controlled "union territories".  The lockdown also included restrictions on religious gatherings in India's only Muslim-majority region, with the authorities banning the entry of people into Kashmir's important mosques, where devotees offered their prayers five times a day.  On Fridays, the Jama Masjid in Srinagar used to be thronged by thousands of Muslims from all over the valley.  But December 6 marked the 17th straight Friday when prayers could not take place at the mosque.  Khalid Bashir Gura, 26, who lives in Nowhatta, a neighbourhood close to the mosque, said the authorities considered congregation of Kashmiris "a threat".  "Each time the situation worsens, the largest mosque in a Muslim-majority place is placed under curbs for months together," Gura told Al Jazeera.  "The right to practise our religion is guaranteed by the constitution. But it is being violated in Kashmir again and again."  Syed Ahmad Syed Naqashbandi had been leading the prayers at the Jama Masjid since 1963.  Known as "Imam-e-Hai" in the region, Naqashbandi said the blockade has been a "direct interference in our religion".  Since August 5, the 80-year-old imam is forced to offer his prayers at a mosque five kilometres (three miles) away from the Jama Masjid.  "The bliss in praying at the Jama Masjid is hard to feel anywhere else. I miss being there," he said.  He said the continuous presence of policemen and paramilitary forces around the grand mosque was "a threat to the people".  "It is always because of their presence around the mosque that the problems erupt," he said.  Syed Rahman Shams, a key member of the committee which administers the mosque, said it was not the first time the prayers were stopped there.  "In 2016, the mosque was locked for 16 straight Fridays. That record was broken this year," he said.  Similar restrictions were imposed at the Bait-ul-Mukaram mosque in Anantnag district in southern Kashmir.  "Because of the curfew imposed after August 5, you weren't even allowed to move out of your houses. So how could we possibly reach the mosque?" asked Imtiyaz, 21, who did not want to share his last name over fears of reprisal  Earlier this month, the Indian authorities placed unprecedented restrictions on congregations at Dargah Hazratbal, the most venerated shrine in Kashmir.  Located on the western shore of the iconic Dal Lake in Srinagar, the shrine houses what many believe is a strand of Prophet Muhammad's hair.  The hair strand is displayed to more than 50,000 visitors every year on the 12th day of the month of Rabi-ul-Awwal, the day in Islam's lunar calendar that marks the prophet's birthday.  On November 10, when the prophet's birthday was celebrated this year, authorities barricaded the shrine's entry points and allowed only the local residents to enter, sending back those who had come from far off places.  "Each year, I pay my visit to the 'dargah' on this day to have a glimpse of the holy relic. This year I was told to go back by the policemen who had blocked the road close to the shrine," said Ghulam Ahmad Dar, a man in his 60s, who travelled more than 35km (22 miles) from central Kashmir's Budgam district.  Local resident Nawaz Ahmad, 32, said since his childhood, he used to witness large gatherings at the shrine on the day. But this year, he said only a few hundred people were allowed to congregate at the shrine.  "Only the locals of the area were allowed to offer prayers and have a glimpse of the Moi-e-Muqqadas [the holy hair strand]," said Nawaz.  Sayeed Ahmad Farooqui, who leads the prayers at the shrine, was hesitant to speak about the restrictions.  "He does not want to get involved in this. His job is to go, lead the prayers and come back home," said one of his family members.  On November 1, restrictions were tightened ahead of Khoje Digar, a special prayer offered each year at the mosque situated in the premises of Khwaja Naqashband Sahab shrine in Srinagar.  "Ever since I was a 20, I have offered prayers at Khoje Digar at Naqashband Sahab. So did my father when he was alive. This is for the first time I was forced to miss it," said Altaf Ahmad Reshi, 38, a resident of Saida Kadal in Srinagar, about a kilometre (0.6 miles) away from the shrine.  Nearly a week before that, on October 26, curbs on religious gatherings were witnessed at Charar-i-Sharief, the famous Sufi shrine of Sheikh Noorudin Noorani in central Kashmir's Budgam district.  Abid Nabi Baba, 32, a resident of Charar-e-Sharief, said police installed barricades and set up multiple checkpoints "5km [three miles] away" from the shrine.  "I was allowed to proceed only after they ascertained I was heading home," said Abid. "My father tells me he had not seen such restrictions even in the 90s when militancy was at its peak."  When questioned about the restrictions around the famous mosques and shrines in Kashmir, Srinagar's Police Chief Haseeb Mughal said they were imposed since "the situation demanded so".  "We were not in a position to afford huge gatherings. That could have led to violent protests and maybe even loss of life and property," he told Al Jazeera.  Farooqui's hesitation was not unfounded. Scores of Muslim religious leaders are among more than 5,000 people arrested by the government of India since August 5.  More than 600 of them, as per official figures, continue to remain behind bars, with many among them slapped with the stringent Public Safety Act, which allows authorities to arrest anyone on mere suspicion.  Allama Agha Syed Aijaz Rizvi, a 52-year-old Shia scholar, was picked up by the police on August 27 from his home in Nabidipora area of Hawal in Srinagar.  A close family member of his, who did not want to be identified, said Rizvi was accused of making "anti-national" statements during his sermon at Baba Mazar mosque in Zadibal, the Shia bastion in the city.  "They [the police] said they had a video recording of it. We never saw any video," said the family member.  The family said security forces raided Rizvi's home in the middle of the night "as if he was a criminal" and kept in the local police station for a few days before PSA was slapped and he was shifted to Srinagar's Central Jail, where he remains until now.  Kashmir-based human rights activist Khurram Parvaiz told Al Jazeera that there was "nothing new" in what Kashmiris have witnessed since August 5.  He said the right to practise one's faith, one of the fundamental rights in the Indian constitution, was being repeatedly violated in Kashmir "since 1990 and even before that".  "The United Nations and other international organisations have condemned the government of India regarding the violation of religious freedom in Kashmir, but that hasn't made any difference," he said.