The Indian government has said Kashmir is calm after deciding to abolish the area’s autonomous status, but video and eyewitness accounts show a different story. On August 5, 2019, India revoked Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which granted autonomous powers to the state of Kashmir, and enforced an unprecedented communications blackout in the area ahead of the announcement to avoid large-scale protests.

Jammu and Kashmir, on the border of India and Pakistan, is a long-disputed territory between the two countries. In 1947, the Indian subcontinent, previously under British rule, split into two separate and independent states: Pakistan, which has a Muslim majority and India, which has a Hindu majority. Kashmir initially chose to remain independent but its Hindu ruler acceded the territory to India and it has been fought over ever since. Pakistan and India both still claim control of the region.

When the state agreed to join India, Article 370 of the Indian Constitution was created, which granted Kashmir autonomy to make its own laws. The Indian government’s recent move to overturn Article 370 undoes nearly seven decades of history. It removed Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status which gave it the power to make its own laws and prevented nonresidents from buying property in the region. The government also stripped Kashmir of its statehood, turning it into a “union territory.” While the government has denied protests have taken place and continue to maintain there is peace in the region, the visuals we found show that is not the case. Read more: https://wapo.st/2KP8Pvk. Subscribe to The Washington Post on YouTube: https://wapo.st/2QOdcqK

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