Podcast; Voices from the Lockdown: Zero communication between families causing angst in Valley, says Srinagar journalist

Jammu and Kashmir has been under 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 —which drops at 8 am every day — seeks to explore the ground realities in Kashmir, Ladakh and Jammu under this communications shutdown through conversations with journalists and experts from the Valley. In the first episode in this series, Javid Ahmad, a journalist from Srinagar who reports primarily on defence and conflict, takes an in-depth look at the situation in the Valley, specifically regarding the effects of the communication blackout and its effect on families. Javid, speaking over a landline — the only form of communication in Kashmir not cut off from the outside world —also provides updates about incidents of crossfire and protests.