Hiatus

Unlike last time I decided to make full use of my hiatus this time. My brother-in-law, a seargent in the IAF invited me to srinagar more to kill my ennui than to beat the torturous heat of NCR. An affable young man by my side in the flight mistook me to be a Kashmiri lad and i really had a tough time convincing him i was not one. Although there was hardly any rain in Delhi this season but there was a high likely hood of rain the day i boarded my flight. The weather did not disappoint me; I must have been the only Delhite thanking the rain gods that day. It was a pleasant afternoon notwithstanding the fact that every afternoon would look pleasant after facing the heat of Delhi. The antagonism about Delhi's weather continued in my mind as i geared up for the exciting trip. My brother in law's apartment was at an idyllic spot inside the air force station with greenery all around and i really had a great time during my stay there. The air force station was just besides the air port.

There was still an iota of tension in Srinagar. It had only been two days since the curfew was taken off. The Shopian row was afresh in the minds of the Kashmiris even though the incident took place almost a month back. We planned to visit the Dal Lake and Shankaracharya Temple the very next day. Riding pillion i was quite amazed at the number of security personnels deployed in the city. With army men guarding at every 10 metres, the whole city looked like a kent area. We were about 400 meters from Lal-Chowk; the busiest area of Srinagar which is right in the mid of the city when suddenly we heard three shots of gunfire. Lightening struck i saw people running haphazardly on the streets some towards and some away from us. Amid all this i could see few rancour protesters with banners and it looked like the policemen had just fired the shots to disperse the crowd. The protesters turned violent and set ablaze a police vehicle. The protesters started pelting stones as we hurried into a pussillous street. The awestruck people headed for the airport which was the safest spot nearby and we followed suite. After reaching the outskirts we inquired from a police man about what had happened. He told that a young lad was found with his throat slit and the protesters were demanding a fair probe into the incident. Amid all this I was more interested in knowing how we could reach Dal lake :O After few discussions with local shopkeepers we came to know that there was only one road and that went through Lal-Chowk. To add to the misery the policeman told that the area after Lal-Chowk is infamous for being called "mini-pakistan" and section-144 has already been imposed in most parts of the city. There was no way we could visit the place we wanted to. Burly sergeant gave an askance and i silently agreed. Everyone agrees to the fact that hubris of the crowd under such situations is really uncalled for. I couldn't go places as the blighted curfew kept me away from the city for three days. For the 1st time i felt there is something good about Delhi since places like J&K seem to be baubles. One of the TV interviews had aired a Hurriyat leader Mr. Lone's comments on the recent outbursts in Srinagar. He was quoted as saying such issues need to be resolved between India Pakistan and people of Kashmir. I was taken aback by the mention of Pakistan. What has Pakistan got to do with such issues. Interestingly people like Mr. Lone who have been raising a hue and cry over such incidents did not condemn incidents of militant acts. A youth being murdered is not a small incident by any means but political parties like Hurriyat who lost in the recent polls by a huge margin are everready to blow such issues out of proportion. Politicians have been milking such situations and are by no means ameliorating the condition of the State. I flew back after three days with dismal look on my face. I got to witness what the state is so infamous for. I have been watching such incidents only on television till now. Meanwhile probing into all recent mishappennings has gathered pace with the suspension of Officers responsible for negligence of Shopian case. Incidents of stone pelting and setting ablaze public property can by no means be termed as peccadilloes and action must be taken to stop such incidents in the valley.