SRINAGAR – India feared a revolt in Occupied Kashmir as Indian orderleaves Kashmir police dispirited, even disarmed.
*The Associated Press* issued a report on plight of Kashmiri policemenafter interviewing the 30 policemen.
Without weapons, riot gear or even clean uniforms, a group of policeofficers sat on the sidewalk outside a shopfront in Srinagar, the main cityin the, weighing their allegiances.
Thirty Kashmiri police officers who spoke on the condition of anonymityfearing retribution from their superiors told The Associated Press thatthey have been sidelined and, in some cases, disarmed by New Delhi-basedauthorities since the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi downgradedJammu and Kashmir from a state into two federally administered territories,tightening its grip on the restive region.
The state police force was shocked by the sudden presidential order earlierthis month that stripped Kashmir’s constitutional autonomy, leadingofficers to feel spiritless, caught between the federal security forcesthey now report to and the friends and neighbors who question theirloyalties like never before.
“At the end of the day, we neither belong to our own nor are we trusted byhigher authorities,” said one officer. For years, Kashmiri police have beenon the forefront of intelligence-gathering and profiling of activists andarmed militants fighting Indian rule.
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Officers described Kashmir’s sudden re-organization as a betrayal by thefederal authorities they had been serving at the risk of social alienationin their communities.
Many of the policemen said their department-issued firearms were taken awayfrom them days before Modi’s government’s order was presented in Parliamentbecause authorities feared they could rebel.
It is pertinent to mention here that at least three fights have broken outbetween state police and soldiers since Kashmir’s status was changed,leading to injuries on both sides, two police officers said.