SRINAGAR, India (AP) – An unusual silence cloaks the center of the city. Its streets, once teeming with traffic, are dotted with spools of concertina wire, blocking movement. Every road is sealed off. The population has been forced indoors while thousands of Indian soldiers in camouflage are on patrol, carrying guns at their waists.
Srinagar, the administrative summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, is a city under siege.
A watershed moment was reached Monday in the disputed and divided region after the Hindu nationalist-led government in New Delhi revoked its special status and stripped it of its statehood.
Thousands of people have been forced indoors, shops and even health clinics were shuttered, and all communications and the internet have been cut off.
The predominantly Muslim region is claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan, although both countries only control parts of it. Rebels have been fighting Indian rule for decades in the portion it administers.