Behind the scenes of the G20 meeting in Kashmir.

As the date for G20's working group meeting scheduled in Srinagar draws nearer, security in the Kashmir valley has been further beefed up. Along-side the enhancement of the intelligence grid and 'invisible policing' for the G-20 meeting, New Delhi has rushed additional troops to Kashmir. Specialized forces and anti-drone technology from New Delhi have also been deployed in Srinagar and other tourist places where G20 delegates will visit.

Local administration under the direct supervision of lt. Governor Sinha has been hectically engaged to give the city a new look that may please the eyes of foreign dignitaries coming to attend the upcoming summit events. Rapid renovation and repair work on dilapidated roads has been going on for the past several months. Lamp posts on the roads leading to the conference hall have been illuminated in the green, white, and orange of the Indian national flag and billboards featuring India's G-20 Lotus logo.

The capital city (Srinagar), which until yesterday presented the image of a desolate and devastated city, has got a glittering facelift, under a smart city project. Hundreds of military bunkers dotting the city's main thoroughfare right from the airport to International Convention Centre along the banks of Dal Lake, on which a cavalcade of foreign dignitaries are expected to pass, have been renovated/decorated with a view to hide the ground reality that belies the Indian government's claim that everything is hunky dory in Kashmir.

While the cosmetic beautification campaign in Srinagar and other places goes under the full glare of the media, what is really happening behind the scenes in Kashmir is something that must be a cause of serious concern for all, especially the G-20 nations who have an enviable track record of being uncompromising custodians and promoters of human rights.

Since the Indian government started preparations for a forthcoming G20 meeting, disturbing reports of human rights violations continue to pour in from Northern and Southern parts of the valley and Muslim-majority areas adjacent to Line of Control (LoC), where the Indian army and its paramilitary forces have been conducting frequent raids and search operations. Innocent civilians, mostly young boys, are being abducted and shifted to unknown locations. People are being harassed, humiliated, and tortured during nocturnal raids, search operations and frisking being carried out, day in and day out.

Prisons and torture centers in Kashmir...