Kashmiris in Bengaluru wait for news from home

With communication lines cut, people studying and working in Bengaluru are considering going back to be with family

Very little news is trickling in from Kashmir on the Internet and TV, and Kashmiris living in Bengaluru are dismayed they can’t talk to their families back home.

Everyone Metrolife contacted requested anonymity, saying they could be harassed if they expressed their concerns openly.

India scraps Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir | Follow live updates here

The government cut off all phone lines in Kashmir in the run-up to the abrogation of Article 370.

Hanif Khan (name changed), MBA student at a college near Narayanpura Cross near Bagalur, has not been able to contact his parents after August 5, when the Modi government revoked Article 370 and imposed a curfew.

“I have half a mind to discontinue my studies and go back home just to be with them,” Khan told Metrolife.

He moved out of Kashmir a year ago for his studies, but he was warned by his parents he might be bullied once he was out of the safe environs of his home town. “I have always tried to stay away from any argument with anybody. Some of my friends have had bad experiences because of our origin,” he says.

ACADEMICS DISRUPTED

College students move out of Kashmir because education is inconsistent there. “There was a time when we didn’t have college for seven months. That affects our future,” he says.

Twenty-three-year-old Sahiba lives in the northern part of Bengaluru, and is pursuing a correspondence course in communication studies. She works part-time at a private firm. Her mother is recovering from cancer and not a day passed without the two speaking over the phone.

“Today, I am worried for her because I don’t know what emotional state she is in,” says Sahiba.

The story of Binte Ali from Srinagar, working in Bengaluru, is no different. She had just returned from a quick trip home when news broke of Article 370 being revoked.

MEDICAL WORRIES

The last she heard from her family in her Kashmir home town was on the morning of August 5.

“I have a diabetic aunt who is eight months pregnant. I have grandparents who are also diabetic and on insulin, and I don’t know if they have enough supplies,” says Binte in a frail voice.

She finds many comments about Kashmir insensitive. “They are saying ‘Ab toh Kashmir mein ghar kharid sakte hai (We can now buy a house in Kashmir)’, ‘Yaar, ab toh Kashmiri ladki dhunte hai (Let’s look for a Kashmiri bride)’. This is absolutely inhuman,” she says.

Binte is disappointed so many around her say Kashmir has no right to self-determination. “I thought at least the intellectuals and the saner people in India would support the cause of Kashmir and value our lives. Today, I am ashamed to call them my friends,” she says.

Not everyone in Kashmir has the luxury of satellite television. Only those who have a connection can see the news.

“My family and friends fear that if I post something on social media, I will be cornered. That I am not allowed to speak scares me,” she says.

The last thing that her family told her when she left home was to stay put and not go back. They said they would get in touch with her.

“I know for a fact that even if I go to Srinagar, I have no clue how to reach home. This is not the end, we are not going to give in, no matter what,” she says.

PROTESTS IN BENGALURU

A small group participated in a protest called by the Left parties. Anirudh Gupta, one of the demonstrators, says, “Article 370 had allowed the people of Kashmir to retain their identity.”

He feels the way it was abrogated is unconstitutional. “This has been done without the knowledge of the Kashmiri people, who are cut off from the rest of the country,” he adds.

Another protester says Amit Shah, home minister, had finally put into action “a scheme plotted for decades.” “This is a direct insult to our Constitution,” he says.