Podcast; Voices from the Lockdown: If Centre neglects Valley after abrogation of Article 370, we are going to suffer, say Kashmiri Pandits and Sikhs

Jammu and Kashmir has been under a lockdown since 5 August, the day home minister Amit Shah moved two bills in the Rajya Sabha to revoke its special status under Article 370 and to downgrade and bifurcate the State into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. This new Firstpost podcast entitled Voices from the Lockdown seeks to explore the ground realities in Kashmir, Ladakh and Jammu under this communications shutdown through conversations with journalists and experts from the Valley. The last two episodes have seen south Kashmir discussed in detail. In today’s episode and in the episodes to come, Firstpost will be looking at the situation in the various districts of north Kashmir and speaking to Kashmiri journalist Daanish bin Nabi, who has travelled through north Kashmir after the former state was converted into a Union Territory. In this episode, Firstpost speaks with two minority communities of Baramulla: the Kashmiri Pandits and the Sikhs. Included are excerpts from interviews with a Kashmiri Pandit teacher who chose to remain unidentified and doctor Tara Singh, a professor and president of the Gurudwara Committee of Baramulla. North Kashmir is also where militancy started. Over the years, the region was heavily militarised and has been witness to many deaths. Daanish speaks about how militancy, which saw a dip after 2005, has started to slowly re-emerge. Lastly, Firstpost also travelled to the border town of Uri, where locals shy away from expressing any kind of opinion for fear of reprisal from security forces. Daanish managed to speak to some of them, who wished to stay anonymous, and tells us what they think about the months gone by after 5 August. Excerpts from interviews with residents of Uri are included.