In the town of Shopian in Kashmir, a group of men in their early 20s are killing time at an apple orchard. Until recently, the valley was cut off from the outside world by a months-long communication blockade imposed by the Indian government. The men are eager to share their predicament. “This government wants us to perish. They have taken everything away from us. They have taken away our identity,” says one of them. “We will not sit quiet.”
Mutiny is in the air in Kashmir. It has been five months since the region’s semi-autonomous status was unilaterally revoked by the Indian government. So far, the presence of over 700,000 Indian soldiers has prevented the eruption of a large-scale insurgency, but Kashmir’s youths are increasingly determined to fight back against what they describe as an assault on their political voice.
India has also stepped up its rhetoric. Last week, the country’s most senior military commander provoked outrage for suggesting that sending young Kashmiris to “deradicalisation camps” might be the answer to fighting militancy.
