The phone lines are down. The internet has been blocked, and cable TV is also blocked in parts of Kashmir.

India strips Kashmir of its autonomy under cover of near total information blackout.

From WNYC in New York, this is on the media. I'm Bob Garfield.

It turns out that the move is in keeping with a wholesale

rewriting of what modern India stands for, one that could have reverberations for generations to come.

The Indian youth will probably not know the history of India. It should if things continue at the same pace.

Also, we speak to a historian who examines the role of the frontier in American expansionism.

There's not one president that doesn't use the frontier thesis to justify American power in the world.

It's all coming up after this.

From WNYC in New York, this is on the media.

I'm Brooke Gladstone.

And I'm Bob Garfield.

This week, we saw a new unwritten chapter in India's history being created.

Earlier this month in the world's largest democracy, a dark and ominous turn.

In the disputed state of Kashmir, half administered by Hindu majority India and half by its Muslim-majority rival Pakistan,

India has revoked autonomy for the Jammu and Kashmir region in its control, despite the 67% Muslim majority there.

With a stroke of a pen, that majority's political power and constitutionally guaranteed rights have been obliterated.

Article 370, the section of the constitution that gave significant autonomy to Kashmir

is at the heart of why the region joined India in 1947. It allows the regional government to make

its own laws, except in finance, defense, foreign affairs and communications.

Kashmiri Muslims complained bitterly about their rights and identity being stolen from them.

It's moved at lightning speed without any consultation.

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