Nearly 4 Weeks Into India's Clampdown, Kashmiris Describe Protests, Jail, Uncertainty
On the eve of India's surprise Aug. 5 takeover of Kashmir, Sanna Shah was sitting cross-legged on a silk carpet, trying to enjoy the folk singers performing at her cousin's wedding in the state's summer capital, Srinagar.
Nobody could concentrate on the music. Tens of thousands of Indian troops were pouring into Kashmir, already a heavily militarized area. Wedding guests were increasingly worried, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Every few hours, there would be some sort of rumor," says Shah, in her early 30s. "We left my cousin's wedding early, specifically because of this panic spreading about a curfew being imposed."
Shah was scheduled to fly the next day to New York City, where she works as an architect. After the wedding was cut short, she started texting friends in the U.S., and her cellphone suddenly died — and not because the battery had run out. Moments later,
