Cupid strikes Valley via Internet

A cybercafe in Srinagar draws dozens of Kashmiris every day, many looking for love, reports Neelesh Misra.

He does not carry a bow and arrow, but for hundreds of young men and women, Riaz Ahmed is Kashmir’s cupid.

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Ahmed runs an 85-seat cybercafé in the heart of Srinagar where dozens of young Kashmiris come every day — many looking for love through hours of romantic chats on the Internet.

In a picturesque land celebrated for centuries as one of the most romantic places in the world, the 17-year-old insurgency and social restrictions have choked off opportunities and space for lovers.

So young lovers are seeking romance through the Internet.

"There is no time and no opportunities for real romance. People cannot freak out like we used to," said Ahmed. "So they all go to cybercafés. Even girls sit here for more than six hours at a stretch, all chatting with their Internet boyfriends, people they know as well as strangers."

Rare in Kashmir... A tourist couple walks hand in hand along the Dal Lake in Srinagar. Kashmir's 17-year-old insurgency and social restrictions have choked off opportunities and space for lovers. (Neelesh Misra/HT)

Kashmir was for decades the headquarters of romance, an open society where women did not have to wear the burqa if they so chose, and lovers would dash off for rendezvous along the Dal Lake boulevard or the British-era walking promenade of the Jhelum.

They drifted on shikaras, sneaked away to one of Srinagar’s beautiful parks, or whizzed away on motorcycles to the meadows for day-long picnics.

The insurgency ended all that. There was frisking, roadblocks and questioning by security forces.

Towns would become deserted after 6 pm, markets would shut down, and the only people on rendezvous seemed to be militants, not lovers.

“The biggest problem for romance has been the presence of militants, and frequent searches by security forces,” said sociologist Peerzada Mohammed Amin. “Now, modern technology like the Internet is filtering into our traditional society.”

In recent years, social pressures set in. Young lovers seen together in public were questioned or detained by police, or targeted by hard-line Islamic groups.

“There was a clear demarcation between guys and girls. If a guy and girl were walking together, people would ask questions. Police would stop them,’’ said Nasir Andrabi, who got married last year after falling in love with his sweetheart of four years.

So the telephone came to the rescue.

“Lovers mostly spoke over the phone. They would talk all night. Often people could not meet for months, their romance was just through the phone,” Andrabi said. “Now, they seek the Internet.”

Srinagar has only a few dozen cybercafés so far, but they are all very popular, especially because PC and Internet connectivity is very low.

The government clamped down on cybercafés last year to force them to pull down separate cabins, because they were being used to view pornography or steal kisses with real, rather than virtual, lovers. Pornography sites are blocked now at cybercafés.

“Romantic Internet chatting is very popular. Because of the restrictions around us, you cannot do much else,” said Ahmed.

Email Neelesh Mishra: neelesh.misra@hindustantimes.com