At 75 years old, Zareef Ahmad Zareef has been witness to several major events that have shaped Kashmir — for the worse, he says — since it became part of India in 1947.
Now, the historian and poet worries for the future of Kashmir's culture and its people, after India passed a new law in May that allows nonlocals to become permanent residents of the Muslim-majority territory.
"Our Kashmir is a garden. The new laws have thrown the doors open for plunderers to ruin it," said Zareef in a phone interview from Srinagar, Kashmir's main city.
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