India’s Modi to visit Kashmir, first since special status scrapped in 2019
Al Jazeera
The visit comes ahead of India’s national election due by May, the first since the region lost its autonomy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will shortly hold a rally in the main city of Indian-administrated Kashmir, his first visit since the disputed region’s semi-autonomy was scrapped in 2019.
Modi’s government stripped the Muslim-majority territory of its special constitutional status, splitting the former state into two territories – Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir – directly ruled from New Delhi. Inherited protections on land and jobs given to the Indigenous residents were also removed.
The move, widely welcomed across India, angered many in the densely militarised territory. Rebels in the Himalayan region have waged a rebellion since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, which controls a smaller part of the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.
On Thursday, thousands of armed police and paramilitary forces in flak jackets were deployed, and new checkpoints were set up across Indian-administered Kashmir’s main city Srinagar, where the Hindu nationalist leader is scheduled to address a public gathering at about 2pm (08:30 GMT) local time.
The forces laid razor wire and erected checkpoints as they patrolled all the roads leading to the football stadium where Modi will speak. They randomly frisked residents and searched vehicles while navy commandos in motorboats patrolled the Jhelum river that snakes through the city.
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