One year after special status ended, Kashmiris have disappeared from government in J&K
On April 2, a photograph from an official meeting of the Jammu and Kashmir administration created a buzz on social media in the Kashmir Valley. At first glance, the picture appeared unremarkable. It showed Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor GC Murmu holding a meeting with a battery of bureaucrats.
Social media users in the Valley were quick to point out that, out of the 19 men in the photograph, there was only one Kashmiri Muslim – Farooq Ahmad Lone, a former Indian Administrative Service officer from the Valley.
“Islam is the major religion practiced in Kashmir, with 97.00% of the region’s population identifying as Muslims and among them just Farooq Lone sb is standing alone in decision making with regard to highly Muslim populated Jammu and Kashmir as I could see,” said a Facebook user from Kashmir.
The picture cut to the heart of the anxiety that has gripped the Valley ever since August 5, 2019, when the Centre stripped Jammu and Kashmir of special status and split the former state into two Union Territories amid the severest lockdown the region has ever seen. Parliament also repealed Article 35A, which had empowered the government of the former state to define “permanent residents” of Jammu...
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