Licence to Kill
ON 23 FEBRUARY, as brutal assaults on Muslim communities began in northeastern Delhi, I was in Kashmir. I did not have access to the internet—it was the seventh month of the communication blockade, which, along with an increased military presence and an intensified crackdown on politicians and activists, accompanied the revocation of Article 370 in August 2019. I left home in the morning, to meet journalist friends at the media centre set up by the Indian authorities, the only facility where you can access the internet and social media via a virtual private network. When I reached Polo View, the city centre of Srinagar, a journalist asked me, “What are you doing here? Delhi is burning!”
When I asked what had happened, he broke the news of the communal violence in Delhi. As soon as I got the Wi-Fi password of the media
