On August 4, Adil, 28, a photojournalist in Srinagar’s downtown area, was at his office in Lal Chowk. Unaffected by the social media rumours and political drama unfolding around him, Adil was researching photo-editing and new camera equipment in the market.
By midnight, the government snapped all forms of communication, including internet and mobile services. When Adil woke up on August 5, he found his phone signals jammed and his family members glued to the television, watching Home Minister Amit Shah introduce the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill. This Bill, now Act, paved the way to scrap the erstwhile state’s special status and bifurcate it into two union territories.
