India imposed a curfew in Kashmir two days before the first anniversary of New Delhi's semi-autonomy in the Muslim-majority region that falls on August 5, after intelligence reports of expected popular protests were on the horizon.
"These restrictions will immediately enter into force and will remain in effect on the fourth and fifth of August," said the Indian government decision Monday night in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
A senior police official told Agence France-Presse that a complete curfew meant that people were only permitted to move around with a special permit, usually limited to basic services, such as that of police and medical personnel.
The Kashmir region - located in the Himalayas and disputed between India and Pakistan - is already subject to restrictions to curb the outbreak of the emerging Corona Virus after an increase in infections, including limiting economic activities and transportation.
The Indian government decision also indicated that the imposed closure to contain the virus would be extended until August 8.
Police cars roamed the city of Srinagar at night, and police officers used loudspeakers to inform citizens of the necessity of staying in their homes for the next two days.
The authorities began tightening restrictions in the Kashmir valley as of August 1. On Monday morning, however, barbed wire and iron obstructions were put in place to cut the city's main roads.
Residents of other major cities and several villages told the French Press Agency that the police ordered them not to leave their homes until Thursday.
The new curfew is similar to the one imposed prior to the abolition of the semi-autonomous rule of Kashmir on August 5, 2019. At that time, communications were completely cut off, especially telephone and internet lines, and tens of thousands of soldiers were deployed in the region, which is one of the most important military regions in the world.
black day
The curfew is accompanied by a call for Kashmiris to consider August 5 a "black day".
Since last year, the Muslim-majority region has witnessed a growing curse against the Hindu national government, especially against the background of granting the right to purchase land that was previously restricted to Kashmiris to tens of thousands of people from outside it.
The concern and fear dominate the population of the Indian-controlled part of Jammu and Kashmir, about two months ago, because of new legislation that paves the way for a demographic invasion of the region from various Indian states, at a time when the world is busy confronting the Corona virus.
The Indian central government has passed legislation granting its citizens - who have lived in Jammu and Kashmir for more than 15 years - the capacity of a local citizen to enable them to own land, reside and work in the region, in addition to holding public office.
The political parties represented in Jammu and Kashmir have expressed their opposition to the new Indian legislation, considering that they target the demographic reality of the region.
And last June, the American "Global Village Space" website said that India is proceeding with a blatant defiance of international covenants and an accelerated amendment of the demographic composition of the Muslim-majority Kashmir region, which is considered an "ethnic cleansing" that takes place in light of the indifference of the rest of the world.
The website asserts - in a report - that up to 25,000 people have been granted residence certificates in the Jammu and Kashmir region under Indian control since May 18, which led local politicians to believe it is the beginning of a systematic "demographic change policy" in the region.
According to an official census conducted by India in 2011, Muslims make up 69% of the 12.5 million inhabitants of the region, while Hindus constitute 29%.
Since their independence from Britain and the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought two wars from 3 wars over Kashmir over which they share control.
Armed groups have been fighting for decades for independence in the region or for its annexation to Pakistan, and the 1989 conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead, most of them civilians.