u2018 Are we still a democracy?u2019 J& K clampdown New Delhi: Houseboats line up desolate along the Dal Lake and Gulmargu2019s famed snow covered ski slopes are near empty as are hotels and the many shops selling carpets, embroidered shawls, saffron and other things Kashmiri. Six months after its special status was revoked, the winter chill it seems has set in deep across the Valley.

With businesses on the verge of collapse, a political vacuum and a near complete communications blackout, the future is an abyss, say Kashmiris. Many political detainees have been released but former CMs Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti are in preventive detention since August 5. u201c Six months ago we were asking how long this will carry on? Now we are asking whether we are still a democracy or not,u201d Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi asked. Agencies