NEW DELHI: The first mainstream political voice that reached New Delhi from the Valley on the ground situation there was that of IAS turned politician Shah Faesal, who said Wednesday that entire Kashmir was “extremely upset” and “agitated” at the decision to scrap Article 370.Though there was no immediate reaction, the people are going to “vent this anger out on streets whenever they find the occasion”, he said.
“There is an uneasy calm. The people are yet to absorb what has happened…it will take time to sink in... This insult is going to be internalised by the people if the security presence continues. My worst fear is that people are going to vent this outrage and betrayal on the streets...” Faesal told this newspaper.
Faesal reached the national capital from Srinagar late Tuesday. “I live in an area which is a little relaxed, so I made it to the airport somehow. I am not sure if I would be detained here,” he said. Earlier in the day, he wrote a Facebook post saying “entire 8 million population has been incarcerated like never before”.
“People are in shock. Numb. Yet to make sense of what befell them. Everyone is mourning what we lost...In my conversations with people, besides (Article) 370, it’s the loss of statehood that has hurt people deeply. This is being seen as the biggest betrayal by the Indian State in last 70 years,” he wrote.
He said the fight would be taken to SC to demand back the rights of the people of the state.