Once upon a time, Kashmir was known not just for its snow-capped mountains and rivers, but for its distinct identity: a special status under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. This autonomy protected its Muslim-majority character, shielded land laws, and ensured a local legislature decided its fate. Then, on August 5, 2019, New Delhi, wielding brute legislative and military might, revoked this protected status overnight, splitting the state and placing it under direct federal control.
Communication Blackout and Militarization
In the past six years, Kashmir’s story has become one of fear, oppression, and lost dreams; the promises of development and peace ring hollow when measured against facts on the ground. In the days following the abrogation, a communication blackout began, the longest in the world. By early 2021, Kashmiris endured nearly 550 days without basic human needs, including transportation, internet, and medical facilities. Moreover, the schools stayed closed, and markets were deserted. Over 38,000 additional troops of indian forces were sent, making Kashmir one of the most militarised zones on earth. An estimated 13,000, mostly young men, were detained in the first wave, many sent to far-off jails under “preventive detention” laws, including the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the Sedition Law ( Section 12A of the Indian Penal Code) and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA).
Indian Terrorism and Human Rights Violations in IIOJK
Fast forward to 2025, and the brutality has only evolved in sophistication. This February, Indian forces detained over 500 people in night raids across Pulwama, Shopian, and Kulgam districts, targeting students, ex-detainees, and activists alike, all under the guise of “counterterrorism”. Families awoke to find their sons had disappeared, blindfolded and loaded into trucks, their whereabouts often unknown for weeks. Senior Hurriyat leaders, the champions of Kashmiri self-determination, like Yasin Malik, continue languishing in solitary confinement, cut off from the world.
India claims it is fighting terrorism in Kashmir. But the lived reality reads differently: curfews, checkpoints choking towns, Eid and Friday prayers banned for years at major mosques, media and human rights defenders persecuted for reporting abuse. Since 2019, at least 35 journalists have been interrogated, assaulted, or booked under draconian laws, facing the threat of life imprisonment for telling the truth. The United Nations has listed India’s collective punishment, shutdowns and arbitrary detentions as some of the world’s gravest human rights crises.
2025: Humanitarian Crisis and Economic Suffering
In 2025, the humanitarian cost escalated sharply. After a spate of attacks, Indian military retaliation destroyed 139 homes in Pakistan-administered districts, displacing over 3,100 people. Recent cross-border violence has killed at least 70 civilians in weeks, a grim reminder that the “Kashmir issue” continues to bleed across boundaries. On the economic front, numbers tell a story of despair: after the revocation, Kashmir’s main economic artery, tourism, lost 1,40,500 jobs within just four months, and the region suffered economic losses exceeding ₹17,878 crore (nearly $2.4 billion). Unemployment hovers at over 22%, one of the highest rates in India, while businesses and craftspeople struggle to survive under frequent curfews and internet blackouts. Yet official claims trumpet a rise in per capita income ₹154,703 (2025), but on the ground, this growth is neither inclusive nor felt by ordinary Kashmiris.
Demographic Engineering and the Open-Air Prison
Perhaps the cruellest blow has been demographic: since 2020, new domicile laws have enabled outsiders, mainly Indian bureaucrats and security personnel, to buy land, settle, and transform the valley’s historic Muslim character. For the first time, the anxiety of losing land and culture, once dismissed as paranoia, is institutionalized policy.
Today, Kashmir exists as the world’s largest open-air prison, watched by half a million soldiers; its dreams, voices, and heritage suffocated by India’s campaign disguised as “counterterrorism.” For decades, India accused the world of ignoring “terrorism” from outside borders. Yet, it is India that has orchestrated a relentless terrorism of the state, abductions, enforced disappearances, mass detentions, and unending trauma, for over 75 years, intensified exponentially after August 5, 2019.
Kashmir’s Ongoing Struggle for Dignity
The valley’s story after that day is one of survival in the face of erasure, of resistance in silence and protest in memory. In 2025, optimism is scarce, but the world cannot pretend normalcy exists in Kashmir. The facts, figures, and wounds narrate a truth that no official propaganda can drown out: Kashmir’s pain is not history; it is happening, now.
