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How a four-star hotel in Indian-held Kashmir became a political prison
- Until recently, the Centaur Lake View Hotel offered lavish suites and hosted political conferences that saw Kashmiri leaders defend India’s rule over the disputed region
- But since Narendra Modi’s crackdown on Kashmir, the hotel has turned into a makeshift jail to house those same leaders
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Perched on the foothills of the Zabarwan mountains, overlooking the scenic Dal Lake, the lavish Centaur Lake View Hotel seems an unlikely place to find political prisoners.
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Until recently, the four-star establishment offered luxurious rooms with panoramic views, including executive, deluxe and presidential suites costing up to US$357 a night. The hotel, spread across 13 acres of land in the Kashmir Valley, also boasted round-the-clock protection with “three tiers” of security, including the police and paramilitary forces.
But for the past seven weeks, the hotel in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir has been serving as a subsidiary jail housing pro-India political leaders and activists.
Built 35 years ago, the Centaur – owned by the Hotel Corporation of India, a subsidiary of Air India – was the brainchild of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, a former chief minister of the region and the founder of Kashmir’s oldest political party, the National Conference party.

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Abdullah, nicknamed Sher-i-Kashmir (the Lion of Kashmir), negotiated the post-Partition compromise with India on Kashmir that led to the Articles 370 and 35A, which defined the partial autonomy of the disputed territory, being embedded into the Indian constitution.

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