Podcast; Voices from the Lockdown: Blockade hits access to healthcare, cancer patients forced to walk miles to reach hospital, says Kashmiri journalist

Two months and eight days after the state of Jammu and Kashmir was stripped off its semi-autonomous status guaranteed under the Constitution thus far, parts of Kashmir Valley continue to be in perpetual lockdown, mainly due to the throttled communication channels and the lack of public transport. In the second episode of Voices from the Lockdown — a Firstpost podcast that aims to bring to the fore voices from the Valley — Greeshma Kuthar has a conversation with Mansoor Peer, a health journalist from Kashmir. Recorded snippets of the conversation are included on the podcast. [caption id=“attachment_7477671” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Voices from the Lockdown, a podcast by Firstpost.[/caption] Mansoor tells Firstpost about the administration’s claims about the resumption of normal life in Valley. Centre has been making efforts to get the schools and colleges to reopen, but Mansoor speaks about how the lockdown has effected the local students. The Indian government has also decided to hold the Block Development Council polls that are scheduled to take place on the 24th of October. Mansoor tells Firstpost about the possible implications of this move, considering Kashmir is under a tight security lockdown. Speaking over a landline — the only form of communication available to Kashmiris to reach the outside world — Mansoor also tells us stories about how access to healthcare has taken a hit because of the communication blockade. Kashmir has been under security lockdown with a communication blockade since 5 August after the Centre abrogated special status granted to the state under the Constitution. Today is the 68th day of that curfew. Firstpost will be releasing an episode of Voices from the Lockdown every day.