Kashmir to reopen to tourists but Indian crackdown continues

Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir will allow tourists back into the region two months after ordering them to leave because of security concerns amid an Indian crackdown.

But tourists are unlikely to experience normal life in the disputed area or be able to use mobile internet or mobile phones, which remain cut.

Local government spokesman Rohit Kansal said the decision was made after a review of the situation. Security restrictions “have now been withdrawn almost entirely from all parts of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

He said the restrictions on the entry of tourists will be lifted tomorrow.

The government instructed tourists and Hindu pilgrims to leave on 2 August, three days before India stripped the Muslim-majority region of its statehood and decades-old semi-autonomy.

Prime minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist-led government also sent tens of thousands of additional troops to the region, already one of the most militarised in the world. It imposed a harsh security clampdown, cutting virtually all communications.

Indian troops arrested thousands of activists, including some Kashmiri leaders who have historically accepted Indian rule.

The moves touched off widespread anger, as one of the revisions allows anyone to buy land in the territory, which some Kashmiris fear will result in an influx of Hindus who would change the region’s culture and demographics.

Authorities have since eased some restrictions and encouraged students to return to school and businesses to reopen, but Kashmiris have largely stayed indoors to show their defiance of Indian rule.

They have launched a campaign of refusal to resume their normal lives, confounding India at the cost of economic losses for themselves. Kashmir’s pristine mountainous landscape, ski resorts, lake houseboats and apple orchards have long made it a tourist attraction. However, a full-blown armed rebellion has raged in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir since 1989 seeking a united Kashmir – either under Pakistani rule or independent of both countries.

About 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and an Indian military crackdown. India accuses Pakistan of supporting the rebels, a charge Islamabad denies.

Simmering tensions over Kashmir have also threatened to erupt into open conflict between India and Pakistan after New Delhi imposed the heavy restrictions in the area it controls. Kashmir is divided between the two nuclear-armed rivals, which both claim it in its entirety. They have fought two wars over its control.