MojNews- Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday demanded the Indian government to lift the communications blackout and step back in Kashmir.

In a statement, the HRW South Asia Director Meenakshi Ganguly said since one week Kashmiris remain mostly under lockdown and their leaders are under arrest.

"It is now one week since the Indian parliament voted to revoke the special autonomous status provided to Jammu and Kashmir under India’s constitution, and to split the province into two separate federally governed territories. Kashmiris remain mostly under lockdown, their leaders under arrest. Phones, even land lines, are still severed. The internet is shut down. Their main mosques remained closed to Muslim Kashmiris during Eid today," Ganguly said.

There are reports of worried families unable to contact loved ones, and a lack of proper access to medical services, she added.

Referring to the situation in Kashmir, she said that some journalists have described mass protests which security forces quashed with tear gas and shotgun pellets, something the government denies. "There are unconfirmed reports of numerous ongoing arrests, including of activists," Ganguly said.

Since ۱۹۴۷, India and Pakistan have disputed ownership of the former Muslim-majority kingdom.