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In India, Kashmir’s transgender community struggles to survive under the shadow of conflict

  • The curfew and internet blackout has robbed the marginalised group of much-needed support and contact, with many unable to leave their houses
  • New Delhi claims the revocation of Jammu & Kashmir’s special status would improve the lives of minorities in the region, but experts say this is untrue

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Babloo has not left her home in Kashmir for the past 45 days. Photo: Adnan Bhat
The day before India unilaterally scrapped Jammu & Kashmir’s autonomy through a controversial presidential order, Babloo was preparing for a busy month of marriages at her home in the Dalgate area of Srinagar, the state’s summer capital.

The 45-year-old, who identifies as a transwoman, has made a living as a matchmaker for the past 25 years. But she has spent most of the past 45 days locked inside her home, unable to contact her clients – many of whom have either cancelled or postponed their wedding ceremonies.

From August 5 – when India’s home affairs minister Amit Shah announced the government’s plan to revoke the disputed region’s autonomy – the valley’s population of 7 million people have been under military lockdown. Coupled with a full communications blackout, with internet services cut, normal life in Kashmir has come to a grinding halt.

“Some of my clients cancelled their wedding ceremonies. Others had a modest wedding, which we couldn’t attend due to the restrictions in place. We couldn’t ask them for money because everyone in Kashmir is suffering,” says Babloo, looking out the window of her house.

Though she has witnessed many political upheavals in Kashmir over the past three decades, Babloo has not faced such a situation before. The fear among people is unprecedented, she says.

“We had to attend a wedding just a few kilometres from my house, but we couldn’t go,” Babloo says. “The [Indian armed] forces had set up a checkpoint just at the entrance of our neighbourhood and wouldn’t allow anyone to pass.”

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has strongly criticised New Delhi’s actions and this week appealed for international support for Kashmir in an address to the United Nations General Assembly.

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