Police and byrd down a Police Church this is a church that is used mainly by police force and another chapel which is a national or National Heritage site in chile very nearby they also looted shops all through one of the main avenues about 700 meters from where i am right now close enough to the main protest area where we could see the smoke and smell it out here of course the ambulances and the fire trucks that were trying to get to this area so they had clearly been marring what was supposed to be and many had hoped would be a peaceful protest can and police are firing guns and tear gas to disperse crowds hours after polls closed and its president ial election votes are still being counted but all physician supporters say their candidate. Has won the election incumbent off a honda is vying for a controversial 3rd term in office. U. N. Secretary general antonio good said it says armenia and azerbaijan to respect a new cease fire both sides accuse each other of violating a 2nd truce aimed at stopping the fighting over the disputed region of the no no cattle block workers in argentina are calling for the government to raise the minimum wage and protect jobs threatened by coronavirus the economy was already in crisis before the pandemic hit and months of locked on have only made the situation worse. Chief palestinian negotiator side better cut has been taken to an israeli hospital more than a week after contracting covert 19 the Palestinian Liberation Organization says in a cattle quote special care jeeves or chronic health. Those are the headlines the news continues here on aljazeera after the listening post but of course you can get a lot more detail on the website 0 dot com well give you that again its all just dot com. This is the government not taking the necessary action to really address some of the structural issues we listen i still think that travel is the safest mode of travel and the spend that we meet with global newsmakers and talk about the stories that matter. Like a. Rock. Band. Hello im richard just heard and youre watching a special edition of the listening post kashmir is emerging slowly from the worlds longest most comprehensive internet blackout one that lasted nearly a year it was imposed on august 5th of 2019 that was the day in irans remote is government in new delhi change the rules on the way the indian controlled part of the region is governed instantly denying jamu and kashmir a degree of independence that was negotiated more than 70 years ago in 1907 having revoked that part of the constitution motive then placed an already militarized region under a communications blocking it. Kashmir is disputed territory the countries involved India Pakistan and china are all Nuclear Powers each comes armed with its own narrative that doesnt match the way many kashmiris see themselves on this program were focusing on the indian administered part of kashmir later in the show well hear from 3 Kashmiri Journalists on the challenges of reporting with their communications curtailed 1st though the background story on a region thats been contested on the ground and in the news media ever since indias independence 7 decades ago. History channel. And myers governments and ideology. But never changes is geography. The geographical reality for the people of kashmir is that the territory they live in is in dispute and unlike any other geopolitical flashpoint on the planet the main antagonists involved India Pakistan and china which administers part of the region all happen to be nuclear power. You have to understand that stands between 3 Nuclear States all of them lay claim to part and in a word which is very uncertain that you know very precarious position with the german history is concerned if we try and do really x. Ray down to the very base of what is happening when india and pakistan speak about it theyre both functioning from the philosopher to limit it to read this forest of possession and liberation so both of them have one thing that was asked and also in the name of liberation dunking still fish movies that have made their sufferings worse there is no not a tip of push me it is only to contesting sites and when we say that there are only 2 can distil know what it is essentially talking about the 947. 00 history of the partition of india. 72 years after that partition on august 5th 2019 the government in new delhi fundamentally changed the relationship between kashmir and india it revoked what is known as article 370. 00 that gave kashmir its special status. You want to understand the significance the change had on the lives of kashmiris one must consider the history. When the partition occurred just as the sub continent gained its independence from britain the ruler of the Princely State known as Jammu And Kashmir maharajah hurry saying had a decision to make he was handed most of his subjects were muslim he was trying to play india and pakistan off against each other to preserve Jammu And Kashmir sc independence just months after the british pulled out when the region was invaded by muslim fighters from pakistan he chose to exceed his territory to in the the condition he demanded was the jehmu in kashmir be accorded a special status including autonomy on key issues such as citizenship and Property Rights that formed the bedrock of the relationship between the indian state and kashmiris in general in kashmir that are so many versions of history depending on where you begin to begin history hundreds of years ago you begin history in 1947 when the hindu king decided to sign the letter of accession towards india im not to pakistan to begin history when the 1st Prime Minister theyre all out there who went to the United Nations and said this is an international dispute now over the course of these different events i think that formulated the sense of job one because for years existence has also come a sense of grievance that every promise that was given at these most important points in history has in fact been overturned india broke every promise pakistan broke every promise these ridges in history are essentially defined in media narratives by that. One kashmir acceded to india in 1947 it did so without consulting its citizens big promises. A referendum came to nothing pakistan has always called that expression fraudulent refusing to accept its legality pakistan and india have since fought 3 wars over kashmir in 19471965 again in 1999 that last war took place in the region of cargo it was the 1st Armed Conflict ever fought between Nuclear Powers it lasted just 2 and a half months but it changed. Indias media sector was booming dozens of new 24 hour news channels were on the air competing for. The order. To been out of date and also brought about a hoodie but with god given for the negative genes because it was for the 1st time the bush move was brought to the living rooms of people who thought that through that b. B. C. Got to use the right people in this country to look at the screen was what i was. Taught by you large becomes one quest was the in india about this nonsense to get media types in that way. And we still see the legacy of some of that in a lot. Of them out of the believe ahmed backs when there were fears of India Pakistan war the hyper nationalism that is still in the t. V. Studio journalists in combat. And speaking in a very aggressive guy was about confronting the enemy that sort of thing is is is the legacy of back. One chapter of kashmir is history that for years went under reported began a decade before the cargill war the mass forced exodus of the regions hindu minority the Kashmiri Pandits starting in 1990. Separatist movements some prone to violence many backed by pakistan were on the rise attacking indian. Forces and Kashmiri Pandits pundits still speak of the threats they heard from mosques delivered over loudspeakers on january 4th 1990 a kashmiri newspaper published a press release from an Islamic Militant group the Hizbul Mujahideen advising pundits to leave panic set in within 2 years of the 75000 pandit families in kashmir more than 70000 flight today 3 decades later only about 800 such families remain what happened afterwards is more tragic than the exactly the story of course many pundits was relegated to the margins because for the media here it was a set of people they should be muslims who were brutalized by the indian state but at the same time they forgot the fact that the same type of people had brutalized another set of people happened because many pundits and this is. Over the years the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits has grown into a potent issue for hindu nationalists who now get a disproportionate amount of airtime on indian news channels and use the pundit issue to justify the governments policies on genuine kashmir. I dont know that its the officials of the government of india that you know whatever we do do good muslims is legitimized because of what has happened because weve done. But certainly adds witness you know its socalled good dates on television where its really hundreds referred this as an argument for or so and then just my thing that revenge in a way for gods sake do not use our story as a as a as a military weapon one studio being does not have to exist at the cost of 1. 00 of the stories all these stories are being have a right to exist. Could look at the visuals that could be on indian teacher. On the afternoon of august 5 in the article 270 was a few Kashmiri Pandits head and the group in sweets etc. They have a right to do that because they have a stick in the christmas story but that does not mean that theyre happy that course midis back home facing an unprecedented situation. So that the picture of the scores of competing little its late and the reason histories of the different communities are only fitted against each other and it doesnt result in justice for anyone but its like useful for political profit for an excellent list committed by the bad east taking the bull shit by clearly now with every passing day we see on and under the fascist patenting. That is the political reality that is indeed under the beach in the guinness capable context of the kashmir issue today. In august of 2019 when the Modi Government unilaterally eliminated kashmirs autonomy it had to alter the constitution to do and it revoked what is known as article 37. 00 that gave kashmir its special status. The entry modi is making good on the election the legislation was rushed through parliament troops poured into the region elected leaders in kashmir were placed under house arrest and communications were cut off for the most part they still are doesnt matter whether its been the congress or be a part of the agenda the party at the helm of the power remains and the more do be sure what has happened in the context of the obligation of article to 70 on all this fight is that the rubicon has been crossed and that Political Party which is the be anything but existence over this issue alone good existence is found big in the idea that india has to be one nation one side. Going to do sion and jehmu English Media had a separate constitution separate flag and separate along therefore it was historic from that perspective now jim or english medium is legally in degraded with the rest of the states and union did trees in the union or the kind of false sweeping measures the government whether it came to stopping the internet or this of all the top leadership pete shut down the political process inside of the government was no longer going to me any kind of adjustment if you like for what was originally a special state. The Modi Government justifies the communications lockdown as the most effective way to disrupt the operations of extremist groups it caused terrorists new delhi has frequently used fighting extremism as a basis for blockades from 2012 to 2018 the internet was shut down 125. 00 times in Jammu And Kashmir those blockages would typically end in a day or 2 this one has lasted more than a year the internet has gone from being completely blacked out for the 1st 5 months to moving in slow motion since with 2 g. Speeds that seem to take forever having relied on constitutional lawyers to rewrite the law of the land men in uniform to patrol the streets of kashmir it. Experts to carefully limit communications there. And indian news channels to spread the message in the rest of the country the b j p has both shaped this debate and limited it severely in the weeks that followed the august 5th decision i think it is safe to say no Television Channel actually challenge the governments version that is an overwhelming on. Believable credential right. At the fact that in all life stopped. Before our very eyes. The integration of german kashmir has actually up in fact most of them not only in the door stood up to what the visuals they showed the debates they held seemed to indicate that nobody wanted to challenge the governments decision if there were to be a one hour just a one hour program on an indian super mainstream channel at primetime that actually lays just to the bare facts of the chemise history political dispute just even the bare facts even something as tiny as a drop in the ocean is that would make a Significant Impact and they do not know because its not on their t. V. Its not in their papers you just kind of keep on with that sanctioned ignorance enforced silence and perpetuate your own narrative the narrative. Is very dark and that is listen we just want to be left alone to live as we would like to live and that we were told at one point that we would be asked as to what we would like for our future things have not happened that is because that which has been ignored completely when you say that there is no question of the negative are you nor do lying are you not who are drinking people because in the last 30 years youve been saying dark meat is one thing dependence how did this point of view become saw mainstream if you were not given the space to speak what you wanted but the truth is that he alone is not at the shooting there are many pundits there at the swedish 6 there are many muslims who swear by india are they not push me to say i am an arbiter. But that instead of just me that is critical because the media. Is redefining. Whether it is going to be a secular democracy or whether it is going to be a religious republic or a majority Variant Community and i think the significance of that is that it has huge implications for their rights because me and most importantly the people of kashmir. Denied their normal means of communication Kashmiri Journalists have had to find new ways to do the job consider what theyre up against checkpoints roadblocks restrictions on movement and even if they are able to Research Stories get to sources have information verified and produce a report how do they get it out some reporters have been smuggling news content out on her drives others are forced to queue up at a state run Media Facilitation Center to upload stories knowing that they run the risk of government surveillance harassment and intimidation of journalists is far too common daring to question the official line could land them in a Police Interrogation room the end result is selfcensorship a sanitized local media ill equipped to report what this new reality means for citizens there. Weve spoken with 3 local journalists on the work that they do to make sure that the kashmiri narrative isnt completely blacked out. There was already military logged on here at English Media since august 5th and then when this quarter knocking it was like all logged on within the log the. Communication got good slick to fornicate completely silence and majority of the population often lame kiss me and entire population being pushed behind in iran war and what the government is trying to do is to denigrate and die a population that we are in control of the other night. What changed off till august fife use the level of intimidation it was for the 1st time that would use has the can or will the control knows john has in mind john distinguishment and to ensure that more journalists names from the government never do and more john this tries to do in community john. As a photojournalist it was very harsh it was very difficult like you know working in kashmir the past many years i have covered different uprisings different movements different for tests i have covered the funerals of militants. But since 5th august what happened it was ordered to be that a very different thing. There were like huge number of Indian Forces everywhere on the road in the cities in the alleys or everywhere you know around kashmir it had been very difficult to even like move because we were being stopped at many places. In kashmir there was already a military lockdown here but since the pandemic happened we had again a lot done for the war it was it was a lot down for the 1st time but for me for us in the meat for the people here i could see it has been happening for a year even if i should stories im not able to communicate to my editors on time im not able to you know access the high Speed Internet at my home i use google my friends please every day i have to travel 8 kilometers and kilometers just to play file or check my email so its like its its a very sad situation traveling distances to just you know send a single story as a freelancer i also find it very difficult like working in kashmir just because i saw many of my colleagues people working as a journalist but all the writers all authors they were being summoned for the stories they have done so it also has