Breaking Event! A first-hand SHTF account from Kashmir

Just found this article and wanted to share, I've not seen any news about the situation. Media blackouts are not uncommon though and seem to precede many global situations as they escalate.

I don't really have much to say, about what's being reported, still catching up on it. However with so much going on that's to be expected.



From the article;

I've been following the events in Kashmir via Twitter for a few months now, as I follow a few OSINT accounts from South Asia. Today someone posted this heartbreaking first-hand account of what it's like when the unthinkable actually happens and the "conspiracy theory" turns out to be true.

Rumors have been going all summer that Modi’s government was cooking up some way to abrogate Articles 35A and 370. It was only after the Amarnath Yatra was evacuated on Friday that these rumors began to gain shape and traction. People began gathering gas, food, meat, money.

Most people are bankrupting themselves to do so. Those who were self-employed or low-income were worried about how they would feed their families. Panic was rife in the air and there was no relief...

Around 10 pm, a messaged flashed across our phones announcing that, as per the request of the central government, all domestic networks were to be shut down indefinitely. All mosques, any place equipped with a loudspeaker, began announcing total curfew from 5 am tomorrow.

Tensions were still growing, even at the airport. Sudden shushes would fall and whispers would break out. Two of my father’s friends work at the airport both appeared, pulling him aside, telling him the news of Article 370 being repealed and then again for 35A and bifurcation...

This is a scene right of a dystopian novel and most of the world isn’t even reading. The tenuous and fragile autonomy that Articles 35A/370 provided (because they were a bandaid solutions to an unsustainable, unfair accession) is now broken.

SHTF in Kashmir

Oookay....


SHTF regarding what? Pakistan and India are going to duke it out? Separatists? Insurgents? What? Context does matter here, a lot has gone down over there over the years, any of those could apply.

The 35A article is described in the link, what is the 370 about?

I would hate to see the tention flame up between India and Pakistan. 2 nuke-powers going at each other is always bad.

Tagged to follow for future updates. Interesting.

a reply to: Goedhardt

Imran Khan: "Through the United Nations Security Council, we are studying it now, we will raise it in General Assembly, we will talk to heads of States at every forum... we will raise it in the media and tell the world,"

Twitter

Looks like it's not escalating at this stage, with Pakistan looking for diplomatic channels, but yeah not good when these 2 nations get heated over this region...

Neighbouring China has also voiced opposition to the Indian move, describing it as "unacceptable".

China siding with Pakistan atm

I would hate to see the tention flame up between India and Pakistan. 2 nuke-powers going at each other is always bad.

in response to GOEDHARDT
I SCREWED UP ON YOUR QUOTE
Could this flare up to cause WW3, or the begining of Revelation and the 300 million army from the east?

www.bbc.co.uk...

Guess they want a war?

originally posted by: Diaspar
a reply to: Goedhardt

Imran Khan: "Through the United Nations Security Council, we are studying it now, we will raise it in General Assembly, we will talk to heads of States at every forum... we will raise it in the media and tell the world,"

Twitter

Looks like it's not escalating at this stage, with Pakistan looking for diplomatic channels, but yeah not good when these 2 nations get heated over this region...

Neighbouring China has also voiced opposition to the Indian move, describing it as "unacceptable".

China siding with Pakistan atm

China is not "siding" with Pakistan , but will move in , if needed.
Thats the problem
They have been prepared to take back that disputed regions of Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh for some time now .
Waiting for a confrontation between India and Pakistan.
If those 2 start , you betchya China will cross that disputed border ,as they have always maintained a fairly large force there.

India should back off , remember Kashmir was always a separate country , and head off what may not turn out the way they think.

Went and read link. This is pretty serious and escalated quite fast. I notice that the old adage 'It's too late to prep after the SHTF' was definitely in play. I think it's important to post more from the article so I will add to the op from the link for those who would like more info:

Background: Kashmir (majority-Muslim) is disputed territory between India (Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslim). There has been constant fighting there for years, but things have escalated in recent weeks. India's constitution granted the India-controlled portion of Kashmir some nominal autonomy via Article 35a, but a few weeks ago rumors began swirling that India was set to revoke 35a and fully absorb Kashmir.
The Article 35a revocation was considered crazy talk and "conspiracy theory" for the longest time, and the Twitter accounts I followed that were taking it seriously were ridiculed. But then rumors of an Indian military build-up in Kashmir started surfacing on Twitter, along with pictures of Indian military hardware and troops flowing into the region. Still, many people said this was rumor and not out of the ordinary.
Then, a few days ago, the buildup was too big to laugh off, and then all communications in the region -- internet and phone -- were shut off. A curfew was imposed, the Indian military was openly occupying the region, and Article 35a was revoked.
Everyone is waiting to see how Pakistan will respond to this. Some of the OSINT (open source intelligence) accounts I follow are now saying that this will mean war between these two nuclear armed enemies, but for now that's mostly considered crazy talk.
Prepping take-aways: Here are some random prepping thoughts that I'm sure most are already aware of but that I was reminded of on reading this thread. I'd love to hear others' thoughts on what sort of actionable conclusions can be draw from all this.
The author of this thread had a bug-out plan in place and some luck.
Once panic sets in, it's too late to prep.
Every once in a great while, the unthinkable actually does happen.
The author's family kept their head down and stayed focused, and didn't get sucked into any political chants or activity.
Sometimes bugging out means heading to the airport and going through security. If I had to do that on short notice, I'd be spending most of my trip to the airport trying to split my family's BoBs into "stuff I can get through security" and "stuff that will have to be checked, and that I may never see again." I'm gonna re-pack so that this is easy and fast to do.
Edit: Some great additions from the comments:
Ham radio is an option for if all comms are down, as is the case in Kashmir right now
Cash on-hand is key, because if there are no comms then there's no banking or credit cards
Another good tip re: cash: "I keep CAD/USD/CHF. USD + Local currency (if different) is probably enough. In Europe I'd consider EUR + CHF or GBP. If you need to cross a border while your home country is in turmoil, be prepared for some of your currency to lose all value."

So NO internet, communications, ATMs, banking etc. There are so many who poo poo the SHTF scenario yet history has shown many SHTF examples. I feel for the innocent people who just want to live normal, productive and happy lives. Hopefully there will be some positive resolution without too much suffering by them.

a reply to: Nyiah

Overly simplified explanation:

Kashmir is an Autonomous region in India that it mostly Muslim. India has said it plans to end their Autonomous rule and make them a full Indian State. They also might split Kashmir into two voting States.

There has been a troop build up since this announcement. India sent in thousands of troops a few days ago preparing for problems from Pakistan. Pakistan has never recognized India's claim to Kashmir. Also if Kashmir fights this move from India it might draw Pakistan in as an Ally. With China sitting right next door this is a touchy situation.

Kashmir has been a troubled place for as long as I can remember. Bit like Syria sitting at the cross roads between many other more powerful nations. Has had a few armies pass through it in the history books. Hope the lights come back on soon.

A good read from a prepping and survival perspective.

I've been studying Venezuela pretty closely for current examples of survival situations. I've been reading the Selco (Bosnian War Survivor) interviews from SHTF Plan and studying his scenarios and advice. Now we have another conflict teaching us survival and prepping scenarios in real time.

I get the impression that most people in this situation were down playing the threat and not prepared for a crisis. I can almost hear it now . . .

"Stop worrying, it's OK, you don't have to do any survival prepping. It's all just loony conspiracies, rumors, just a bunch of crazy talk. Quit playing with the bug-out bags, stop stocking up on beans and bullets, no more buying precious metals and hoarding cash, and really just forget about that Ham Operators license and equipment. Nothing is going to happen, so just stop wasting your time and money by concerning yourself with paranoid delusions about survival situations and prepping."

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

these are such improvised nations that "being a prepper is essential to way of life" not a "prepper for nuclear holocaust" but a prepper for "oh here we go again,.. political, social, issues have arised" both these peoples have been prepping for a long time.

a reply to: ADVISOR

both countries are absolute $h!+ holes. the U.S. gives not one damn about them because in the end if they do attack each its just gonna be them against each other. why should i worry living in the U.S. what these two idiots do to each other? the reason the U.S. cares about Russia, China and to a small degree north korea is because those countries have the means to attack the USA or can bring in allies to gain up on us.

the nation's of the Indian subcontinent posses no such threat, we'll call it population control.

Not sure if India has tactical nuclear weapons, but Pakistan certainly does.

Search up the difference between tactical nukes and strategic nukes.

Most of the countries with nuclear weapons have tactical as well as strategic nukes.

Thus, if *only* tactical nukes were used in a hypothetical "third world war", the human race would survive - and survive well. As opposed to global fallout and extinction.

So no need to be too worried about India and Pakistan bickering.

originally posted by: jgarc028
a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

these are such improvised nations that "being a prepper is essential to way of life" not a "prepper for nuclear holocaust" but a prepper for "oh here we go again,.. political, social, issues have arised" both these peoples have been prepping for a long time.

Even if a "nuclear war" actually occurred, there may not even be a "nuclear holocaust" as such.

Search up the difference between tactical nukes and strategic nukes...

originally posted by: Identified
a reply to: Nyiah

Overly simplified explanation:

Kashmir is an Autonomous region in India that it mostly Muslim. India has said it plans to end their Autonomous rule and make them a full Indian State. They also might split Kashmir into two voting States.

There has been a troop build up since this announcement. India sent in thousands of troops a few days ago preparing for problems from Pakistan. Pakistan has never recognized India's claim to Kashmir. Also if Kashmir fights this move from India it might draw Pakistan in as an Ally. With China sitting right next door this is a touchy situation.

Won't affect the rest of us here in the Western World one bit.

originally posted by: PhilbertDezineck

I would hate to see the tention flame up between India and Pakistan. 2 nuke-powers going at each other is always bad.

in response to GOEDHARDT
I SCREWED UP ON YOUR QUOTE
Could this flare up to cause WW3, or the begining of Revelation and the 300 million army from the east?

Search up the difference between tactical nukes and strategic nukes.

You may not get your nuclear apocalypse wet dream after all...

originally posted by: AnakinWayneII

originally posted by: PhilbertDezineck

I would hate to see the tention flame up between India and Pakistan. 2 nuke-powers going at each other is always bad.

in response to GOEDHARDT
I SCREWED UP ON YOUR QUOTE
Could this flare up to cause WW3, or the begining of Revelation and the 300 million army from the east?

Search up the difference between tactical nukes and strategic nukes.

You may not get your nuclear apocalypse wet dream after all...

I'm not looking for a wet dream as you stated just trying to read the signs of the times.

originally posted by: Identified
a reply to: Nyiah

Overly simplified explanation:

Kashmir is an Autonomous region in India that it mostly Muslim. India has said it plans to end their Autonomous rule and make them a full Indian State. They also might split Kashmir into two voting States.

There has been a troop build up since this announcement. India sent in thousands of troops a few days ago preparing for problems from Pakistan. Pakistan has never recognized India's claim to Kashmir. Also if Kashmir fights this move from India it might draw Pakistan in as an Ally. With China sitting right next door this is a touchy situation.

I'm aware of the history of Kashmir. Others may not have been, so your brief overview is welcome either way.

In a nutshell, India's basically doing what it already alluded to a while ago, and thus isn't really any kind of mystery, conspiracy or sooper seekrit underhanded move. And the bickering is more of the same. Same s#, different day for the two.

If they come to blows, they come to blows. People thought they'd nuke each other in the 90's, and still haven't yet. With China breathing down their necks, I highly doubt they ever will, lest either country want to run the risk of the Chinese military opening up a can of shear force of ground troop numbers whoop-ass. I doubt India or Pakistan thinks running the risk of a Chinese ground force occupation, no matter how slight, is worth it.