Denial of Kashmir’s special status preceded mass imprisonment of its political class

Evidence

In the immediate wake of the blackout that followed the revocation of Kashmir’s special status, India detained and arrested hundreds of local leaders and politicians. The objective was clear: gut Kashmir of its political and activist class and make way for Indian Hindutva rule. Prominent leaders like Farooq Abdallah and Mehbooba Mufti, the last chief minister of Kashmir and Jammu State, were imprisoned indefinitely. During the blackout, Indian state violence peaked and pummeled Kashmir’s intelligentsia and political classes behind its veil of darkness. — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 511

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the Frankfurt School material on how regimes purge political classes to consolidate power; reader’s reading purpose wants India alongside the global synthesis.