‘We won’t give an inch’: India faces defiance in ‘Kashmir’s Gaza’
ISLAMABAD, Aug 22 (APP):In an act of defiance against India’s controversial decision to withdraw Occupied Kashmir’s special status, young men are seen protecting the only entrance to a besieged neighbourhood, they call “Kashmir’s Gaza”.
The Soura neighbourhood on the outskirts of Srinagar has sealed itself off from security forces.
“They can only enter Soura over our bodies. We won’t give even an inch of land to India,” Mufeed, a resident who volunteers to guard the neighbourhood at night, told AFP.
“Just like Gaza is resisting Israel, we will fight for our motherland with all our might,” Mufeed added.
Since early August, residents have erected ramshackle barricades of tin sheets, wooden logs, oil tanks and concrete pillars, and dug trenches to keep soldiers at bay amid daily protests against India.
Ahead of the announcement, India rushed tens of thousands of extra troops to the restive region to join 500,000 already in there and imposed a strict clampdown fearing further unrest. But protests have broken out, with the lower-middle class Soura leading the way.
At least 15,000 people rallied on August 9 — the biggest demonstration in occupied Kashmir so far.
They were met by security forces firing live ammunition, tear gas and pellet guns to disperse the crowds, with more than two dozen people reportedly injured.
Soura, a crammed lakeside community of more than 2,000 homes, is surrounded by security forces on three sides.
The renowned mosque Jenab Saeb has become an assembly point for thousands of protesters in the neighbourhood.
Every night, residents march through its narrow lanes, carrying torches and passing graffiti with the words “Freedom for Kashmir” and “Go India, go back”.
Locals pass along messages if they spot any police movement on the main highway just beyond Soura.
Police forces, who have deployed drones and helicopters, tried to enter Soura at least three times but were pushed back by stone-throwing youth, some also armed with axes and harpoons.
Familiar with police’s crowd-dispersing tactics, protesters use salt water to wash their faces after chilli and tear gas are fired, and wear helmets and glasses to protect themselves against pellets.
Three youths have so far been arrested after venturing out from the area.
“They (India) are testing our resilience and they will definitely fail,” local Nahida told AFP.
“We defeated them last time and even if this situation continues for years, we won’t give-in.
” Despite the Soura protests, authorities stress that Occupied Kashmir has remained largely peaceful since the lockdown.
Residents have become more anti-India in recent years. In 2016 when mass street protests broke out over the death of a popular Kashmiri fighter, Soura was the scene of dozens of clashes with government forces.
