Ever thought of spending a day without internet, television, mobile phone, or any phone for that matter? Well, the people of Kashmir are living in the absence of any sort of connection with their family members, let alone with the media for forty days. What happens in Kashmir stays in Kashmir and not even the ex-opposition leader of Democratic India, Rahul Gandhi is allowed to get into the warzone, once known as the prettiest piece of paradise on Earth.
Pakistanis and Muslims in different parts of the world are protesting against the calamity Kashmiris are enduring regularly. A few Indians are also being vocal on the issue because of the blatant abrogation of not just Article 370, but also human rights.
Related: Pakistani Celebrities Stand United With Kashmir
Avani Rai, a photographer, and videographer based in India is one of the few Indians who want the government to at least give Kashmiris a chance to speak. Soon after the lockdown, Rai exhibited the photographs of Kashmir she had taken since 2016. Talking to an Indian media outlet she says, “The reason I am a photographer today is because of Kashmir. I felt the need to pick up the camera when I was in Kashmir.”
The photographer posts at least a photo from the valley everyday unveiling the days they had spent before the ongoing lockdown.
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Every time she comes back from Kashmir, she brings “back a lot of love.”
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The doctors of Kashmir are certainly as fierce and brave as any soldier in the whole wide world. Working on wounded people in the midst of chaos and wildfire is not something everyone can do.
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Have a look at this juxtaposition of power and helplessness. It is all in the eyes and they cannot lie.
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The photographer compares children of occupied Kashmir with that of Palestine. “The first image is of a Kashmiri child I met in Khanqah mosque in Srinagar. The second image of a Jewish child looking at the al Aqsa mosque and the dome of the rock from the Jewish quarters in Jerusalem. Both now, occupied/ disputed territories,” she writes.
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A picture is worth a thousand words? Only? She captions this powerful photo with, “Freedom can never be curfewed.”
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Kashmir apparently has lesser humans and more barbed wires these days.
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The 26-year-old photographer writes a poem with this photo of a little kid waving a dark flag.
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With nearly no access of the media to Jammu and Kashmir, no one can hear their cries and slogans of independence.
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She posts this impactful photo of a woman on the 15th of August depicting Kashmir’s helplessness.
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The global silence on the issue is erasing borders of the disputed area on the world’s map.
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About the children, who will be responsible of their future. The future when chaos settles down and there is light again. Will there ever be light in the valley?
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The people of Kashmir are “being treated like prisoners of war” notwithstanding having no part in the proclaimed war.
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She posts a colorful photo of the days of “normalcy in Kashmir” delineating women and children craving and starving for peace.
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In spite of not even knowing each other, she writes, “This lady, in all her sadness, came to me to give me a hug. I don’t know her name, and she doesn’t know mine.”
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And the videos she has posted will also make your eyes water for the simplicity and innocence they offer.
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Kashmiris are under siege since August 5 after India revoked Article 370 and imposed curfew in the valley. Talking to an India media outlet, Rai says, The reason I am talking today is because very few people are. Right now the future does not look good.”
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