Srinagar: Politicians across the political spectrum in Jammu and Kashmir are raising concern over the repeated summoning and detention of youth before a national holiday, any major government function or a major public event. Politicians warned that such security measures being used in the valley are creating fear and widening an already fragile trust deficit between residents and the administration.Criticising the measures adapted by the security agencies in Kashmir, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti told The Wire that the repeated detentions, questioning and crackdowns were creating what she described as a deliberate “fear psychosis”, in which ordinary people increasingly feel that anyone could be picked up at any time.“Anything that’s happening here is not coincidental. It is supposed to create a certain sense of fear,” Mufti said.She argued that sweeping security measures following individual incidents had created a climate in which an entire population felt under suspicion.“It’s supposed to create an atmosphere where everybody knows that there is a reign of suppression, repression and collective punishment,” she told The Wire.‘Are we all militants?’Iltija’s question was pointed, “if authorities repeatedly claim that militancy has declined and that there are no widespread encounters, why does a single incident result in large-scale detentions and questioning?”.“So what does that mean? That we’re all militants?” she asked.Iltija said the practice of suspecting entire communities was deepening alienation rather than improving security. She also referred to her own alleged manhandling by male police personnel last week, saying such incidents sent a wider message to Kashmiris that political or social status offered little protection.“Why was I manhandled last week?” she said. “If the daughter of a former chief minister, granddaughter of a former home minister, can be manhandled by male cops, then anything can happen to anyone.”Her remarks come as concerns grow over the scale of the security crackdown in the Valley following recent terror attacks in south Kashmir. Police sources cited by The Indian Express said more than 2,500 youths had been picked up across Kashmir, including over 700 from Srinagar, more than 200 from Budgam and 178 from Baramulla, besides hundreds from other districts.The detentions have also raised questions about transparency. Mufti said that after the Anantnag incident, people in the valley are unclear about how many people had been released, how many had been formally arrested, where those detained were being held and whether their relatives had access to lawyers or visitation rights.“The entire system right now is so opaque,” she said.She described the crackdown as systematic and institutionalised, extending beyond suspected militants to political parties, social activists, lawyers and journalists. She cited the cases of lawyer Mian Abdul Qayoom, journalist Irfan Mehraj and human rights activist Khurram Parvez as examples of what she called a “broader effort to silence sections of Kashmiri society capable of documenting or articulating whatever is happening”.Mufti said the authorities appeared to be removing not only people but also the possibility of an independent record of what was happening in the Valley.“So basically, it’s like: you disempower us, you dispossess us, but you don’t want to leave a trail. Whoever you feel will speak against it, you crack down on them, while those who are pliable are allowed to continue,” she added.Mufti was also critical of what she described as the economic and political exploitation of the region by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).“Kashmir has become a milch cow for the BJP,” she said, arguing that the Union government would continue extracting political value from Kashmir as long as it remained useful to the party.Her concerns have been echoed by leaders from other political formations.NC urges L-G administration to place greater trust in valley’s youthJammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) chief spokesperson and Zadibal MLA Tanvir Sadiq, speaking to reporters at the party headquarters, urged the lieutenant governor’s administration to place greater trust in the valley’s youth.Sadiq said people living peacefully with their families and earning their livelihoods should not be unnecessarily summoned to police stations, particularly ahead of important occasions and special events.Such summonses, he said, create an atmosphere of fear and apprehension. Referring to a recent statement by Mehbooba Mufti in Delhi on the use of pellet guns, Sadiq said such remarks should not be used as a basis to target, suspect or point fingers at Kashmiri youth.NC conference spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said the questioning of “suspects” was an old practice dating back to the peak years of militancy. What was troubling, he said, was that similar methods continued to be used even in 2026.Dar said the lists of people being summoned to police stations had not always been updated, meaning that even people in their 60s were sometimes called for questioning.“If the situation was normal, what is the need for using the same tactics which were used during the peak of militancy?” he asked.Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M)) leader M.Y. Tarigami also criticised the practice, saying that summoning people, particularly young people, had been occurring for years but had increased since August 5, 2019.“Instead of conducting professional investigations and identifying those responsible for terrorist incidents, sections of the police are indulging in reckless measures and virtually hunting the common people,” Tarigami told The Wire.He questioned whether indiscriminately arresting or summoning people served the national interest or improved the law and order situation in the valley.“Such activities and responses will only create a bigger gap between the people and the administration,” he said. “People are talking about a trust deficit, but there will be no trust at all if this continues.”PDP leader Mufti also directed sharp criticism at the NC, arguing that the party and the Omar Abdullah government had failed to adequately challenge the Union government and the security measures being imposed in the Valley. “Even with such a big mandate, they’re (NC) normalising all of this”.She questioned what the point of the government’s repeated trips to Delhi were if it could not secure the basic safety and dignity of Kashmiris.“Probably what the government can do, what the chief minister can do, is take this up more aggressively,” Mufti said.She argued that the administration should be asking whether Kashmiris were safe and whether their basic rights were being protected, rather than focusing primarily on the restoration of statehood.“We see so many trips being made to Delhi, undertaken by them. The entire cabinet – you give us statehood, but what about your people? If they are not safe, what are you getting statehood for”? She questioned.The concerns come against the backdrop of a fresh terror attacks and counter-terror operations in south Kashmir.Last month, a day after police head constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi was killed in a terror attack in Anantnag, the homes of two men believed by authorities to be active terrorists were demolished in Hasanpora and Thokerpora, Bijbehara. The police reportedly detained more than 2,500 following the attack.The demolitions followed a pattern witnessed after the Pahalgam attack in April 2025, when the homes of at least nine suspected terrorists were demolished in different parts of the Valley.Firdous Baba, spokesperson for North Kashmir MP Engineer Rashid, who is lodged in Tihar jail, said repeated summoning of Kashmiris, particularly young people, around Independence Day, Republic Day and government functions was “highly condemnable and unjustified”.He claimed that even people acquitted by courts had been called to police stations.Baba also alleged that police verification certificates were being denied to people whose relatives had crossed the border in the 1990s, arguing that such measures amounted to collective punishment.‘We must not lose the chance of reconciliation with youth’“Kashmiris don’t like violence now,” he said, urging the administration to recognise the opportunity to rebuild trust with young people.“We live in a very fragile atmosphere. We must not lose the chance of reconciliation with youth. LG administration has to take the lead,” he added.Mufti said the administration was well aware of what it should and should not be doing, but was choosing the wrong course.“I think they know exactly what to do and what not to do, and unfortunately they’re doing what they’re not supposed to do and they’re not doing what they should do,” she said. According to her, the issue was not a lack of understanding but the intent behind the administration’s actions. She alleged that the approach was aimed at creating fear and ensuring that Kashmiris continued to live “under the barrel of the gun” and “under the fear of the jackboot weighing down on his neck.”Meanwhile, Tarigami urged the L-G administration and concerned authorities to stop what he called “reckless responses by sections of the police administration”.“If you are concerned about improving the security situation, do not treat people as enemies,” he said. “Protecting people is an important duty of law-enforcement agencies, not harassing them.”