Descending in the Valley and after

Let me start with a disclaimer, for it is necessary. My knowledge about Kashmir, the paradise, the hotbed of militancy and many more things, is all derived from what I saw and experienced in my 10-day stay in the Valley as also like most of us from reading on Kashmir in the media. I have tried my best not make generalised statements but if any subjectivity has crept in it is entirely by mistake and not by design. It will be a series of articles narrating every day of my stay and interaction with people in Kashmir. I hope to update everyday but may miss out because of the busy schedule of my work. So apologies in advance. Here we go:

December 29, 2005

Rushing to the airport more than an hour in advance to book a window seat was of no consequence. As the flight took off the fog reduced the visibility to not more than 200 metres (I don’t quite know how much, but things were just not visible). However, as it descended in the Valley, there was some solace for someone who was visiting it for the first time. The reduced height gave a breathtaking view of the snow-clad Himalyan peaks fighting for space with cotton white clouds. I literally felt I had attained salvation and was descending in paradise. And the moment I touched the ground I knew I was there. The breath of fresh air seemed to open every orifice of my respiratory system. It was like sniffing on mint. It can give you a high, incomparable to any other you have had.
We were lucky to have someone receive us, or else for a newcomer it can be a very costly affair. Taxis here can fleece every penny out of you for a 10 km travel. As we drive through downtown Srinagar, an array of beautifully constructed houses, typical to a hilly area, are puncuated by remnants of a decade and a half of Kashmir’s troubled history. Houses with telltale signs of either being set on fire by militants or blown apart by the security forces during an operation. The owner has to fend for himself. No accountablity here, on either side. For militants it's price you pay for freedom, for the security forces it's collateral damage. The serenity of the placid Dal lake adorned by the beautiful houseboats and shikaras, the symbols of the paradise, can be very deceptive. The paradise is no more what it was in '50s and '60s. Probably, it is no more a paradise. For there is constant fear. Fear of the militants, fear of the security forces. They are present everywhere. So are the militants, anyone could be one. The road bordering the Dal lake later leads to Gupkar Road where the high and mighty in Kashmir live: Farooq Abdullah and others. These are high security zones with heavy military presence. If you want to know, high security zone in Kashmir means where the next attack is going to be. It's almost like the 'yahaan-peshab-karna-mana-hai' phenomenon, which generally ends up being an indicator of the place to pee.
Kashmir is more disturbed than what we know through the papers, and so isn’t it dreadful a place as many journalists would want us believe. Kashmiris are genuinely nice and innocent people who will greet you with amazing hospitality. Every time we struck a conversation with a stranger regarding our work or even to ask a direction and it was revealed that we were outsiders, we were invited for dinner and even stay.
Though the focus of the militants in the past five years or so has shifted from civilians to the security forces, Kashmiris still can’t relax. If in the tussle between the security forces and the militants anyone has suffered the most and still suffers it's the innocent people. Guarding Kashmir against militants is also not easy. You are always on your toes, even when not on duty, because you are always on target. The hydra of militancy has spread its tantacles far and wide, and heavy military presence can never uproot it. I do not know what can, because even the highly talked about peace process has had no effect on militancy.
At the Harwan Police Station, some 10 kilometres from Srinagar, squats a 20 something lean and thin boy clad in a phiran, with his hands firmly inside to protect from the biting cold. As you look at his innocent face you feel pity for him. A pity that he does not deserve. In the past two weeks he has slain 12 men at the behest of militants. Not with a gun but by slitting their throat. He is a local labourer and has been used by the militants. He has no trace of remourse on his face for what he has done. No one knows what will be his fate, except the military guys who will pick him up from the police station in a day or two.
We are planning for our dinner and so need to pick some good meat before it is evening. Kashmir means a lot of meat. Nothing will be available once it is dark. So we rush home planning to buy the meat midway. Some 15 kilometres out of Srinagar we notice a shop in the local market and are about to get down when we here shouting and commotion on the road. What we see is, locals say, an everyday affair in Kashmir. Two youngsters holding the barrel of a CRPF personnel's gun and shouting, "Shoot me. Why don't you shoot me? Shoot me know." It was a small altercation where the CRPF man had addressed them, "Saale..." and a fight ensued which could have serious repercussions hadn't a senior officer intervened and reprimanded his deputy for not behaving properly. It was a heartening sight. For a decade ago, the boys would have been shot. Kashmir has changed in the past few years but too late and too little. The locals do not have any faith in the State. Years of excesses — torture, rape and murder — by the security forces has completely eroded the credibility of the government. There is a latent anger against the system in the locals. "Mera Bharat Mahan" is something that can be seen adorning only police and security forces vehicles. No one connects to it here.
The government too is more concerned with security and local governance is way behind in the agenda. There is no local policing either. Right from the top officers in the military to a havaldar in the police is only chasing militants. A murder here, or a theft there does not even register itself to the police unless it is related to militancy. If it does, no one bothers to follow it up or solve the case. Kashmir has been reduced to a cat-mouse fight between militants and the security forces. And the casualty is the masses.
Now a days there is constant power shortage all through Kashmir. And the plan for energy conservation the government has come out with is to ban heaters and water boilers. In -6 degrees, when your jaws can freeze to inactivity, the people have to bear the brunt of the State's insanity. People’s houses are being raided and heater’s seized. That’s quite a way of garnering popular support!