A report by a Delhi-based civil society collective, issued against the backdrop of Operation Sindoor, has pointed to “anti-India sentiments spreading widely” and said the situation is far from what the Centre is projecting.

The findings appear to offer context to the recent discovery of the “white-collar” terror module involving doctors after the Red Fort blast.

Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha-led Concerned Citizens’ Group (CCG) visited Kashmir from October 28 to October 31. The visit took place after the Pahalgam attack in April and Operation Sindoor launched in its wake and days ahead of the busting of the new terror module. Scores of people lost their lives during these incidents. The report was released on Thursday.

“Anti-India sentiment is spreading widely. Public sentiment that had largely turned away from Pakistan has shifted since Operation Sindoor, we were told. While militancy remains at a slow burn, a churning among youth seems to be motivating them to enter spaces of greater radicalisation, possibly supported by forces across the Line of Control,” the report said.

Other visiting members included Kapil Kak, Bharat Bhushan and Sushobha Barve.

The report, based on interactions with top politicians from across the pro-India and separatist divide as well as members of civil society, said the visit came at a time when the statehood promised by the Centre at an “appropriate time” seemed a distant dream despite an elected government in office.

The group said the overwhelming sense in Srinagar was that “of sullen silence”.

“During the meetings with all those we met from the civil society, we realised that the alienation had deepened, resentment and anger against the central government had increased but it was also partly directed now against the popularly elected Omar Abdullah government.

“There is a pervading fear of voicing any dissenting views or opinions by civil society members. Repression by the police on this front is real that does not spare public intellectuals, media persons and others,” the report said.

The group offered some chilling accounts of people it met but the report does not name them.

“We have been silenced,” a prominent doctor told the group, warning “a volcano of suppressed anger and frustration bordering on hatred could erupt any time” and all “it needs is a trigger”.

Referring to the recent concert of singer Sonu Nigam, the report quoted people as saying it was only attended “by security personnel and their families” while ordinary Kashmiris boycotted it.

“The dominant civil society view was that India was moving towards majoritarian rule under the BJP,” it said.

Others told the group about “lack of jobs, uncertainty about the future, general societal anger and alienation” producing two types of negative reactions.

“They are either turning to drugs or, increasingly, towards radicalisation,” it said.