SRINAGAR: Summer had arrived in Kashmir, tourists were coming in droves and India’s ‘paradise’ was in business. One day — July 8 — was all it took to shatter that picture postcard.
In the 40 days since that day, when security forces killed Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, the Valley has become a ghost town, an extended curfew barely keeping a fragile peace.
Shattered glass, stones and bricks on the streets speak of the clashes that erupted in protest against the killing of Wani, the 22-year-old local who had become the poster boy of militancy in Kashmir. The violence left 65 dead and thousands injured.
Schools, colleges and businesses remain closed, mobile internet is down, phones don’t ring. The first wave of violence has given way to an uneasy calm, shattered every now and then by groups of youngsters coming out to challenge the securitymen.
The scene is all too similar to the summers of 2008 and 2010. And yet, it’s different.
“We saw protests and killings in 2008 and 2010. But they were nothing like today. Those years, we were counting the dead. This time, the thousands of injured in hospitals — most of them crippled or blinded for life — are a constant reminder of what has gone wrong,” said human rights activist Khurram Parvez.
{{/usCountry}}“We saw protests and killings in 2008 and 2010. But they were nothing like today. Those years, we were counting the dead. This time, the thousands of injured in hospitals — most of them crippled or blinded for life — are a constant reminder of what has gone wrong,” said human rights activist Khurram Parvez.
{{/usCountry}}The 2010 protests, a result of the death of 17-year-old Tufail Mattoo in police firing, left around 120 people dead. In 2008, an environmental campaign against the transfer of land to the Amarnath shrine board snowballed into violence that left close to 70 dead.
This year, Kashmir watchers said, may go down as one of the bloodiest in the state’s history.
The official number of injured civilians stands at 4,000 but Parvez said “ground reports put the figure at more than double” that number.
In 2010, the protests were restricted to Srinagar, Baramulla, Sopore and Anantnag. This time, the entire Valley is affected. “The centre of unrest is the rural areas. In 2010, it was urban-driven,” said former chief minister Omar Abdullah, adding that Srinagar and other “relatively peaceful areas” were being drawn into the protests.
Another difference, according to the experts, is that the trigger this time is not a human rights issue.
“The protests were in support of a slain militant. Thousands participated in the funeral and they were dealt with bullets. One killing led to more anger, more protests and more killings,” said Parvez.
Senior journalist Sheikh Mushtaq said, “This time, the protests are about people’s anger. If the previous generations were anti-India, this generation hates India.” He said that if issues were not addressed now, they would leave “deep scars”.
“An unresolved 2010 made Burhan and led to lakhs of people attending his funeral six years later. If 2016 is left unresolved, I don’t know what this will lead to,” agreed Parvez.