BY ASHOKA MUKPO
In the exquisite Kashmiri city of Srinagar, Himalayan snow peaks tower over glacial lakes, and at night the Islamic call to prayer drifts lazily through luxurious gardens cultivated by Mughal emperors. It is not hyperbole to suggest that it may be one of the most beautiful places on earth. Unfortunately, its stunning beauty is matched equally by the tragedy of the persistent violence that plagues the Kashmir valley. Beneath the imposing mountain, Indian troops zooming by in camouflage-painted military vehicles and stand tensely on street corners, cradling automatic rifles and nervously shifting their feet. Despite its serene beauty, Kashmir is at war.
In the past year, frustrations over Indian rule have boiled over, with protesting Kashmiris accusing Indian troops of committing atrocities and demanding a referendum on independence. Demonstrations that were sparked by the killing of a 17-year-old boy last summer led to the deaths of over 100 people, and the Kashmir valley has remained tense through the winter. The protests have featured a strong contingent of youth, who have employed the internet and social media to connect with one another and plan actions. These young Kashmiris compare the unrest to that in Egypt and the wider Muslim world, saying they are frustrated and angry at the prevailing political order.
Mohsin Din, a graduate student at Columbia University, vividly recalls an encounter he had with Indian troops when he was a child in Srinagar. “I was sitting in a car, driving home with my mother and my uncle, and a hundred yards away from us someone blew themselves up outside a military camp,” Din remembers. Responding to the blast, the soldiers opened fire and a man in the car in front of his was shot and killed. When the firing stopped, Din’s car slowly drove past the camp and he caught a glimpse of one of the Indian soldiers. “He must have been about eighteen, and he looked terrified,” he recalls.
Such experiences are common for youth growing up in Kashmir and, indeed, they cause much of the anger that is felt by the valley’s residents toward Indian policy in the region. Muzzammil Thakur, a 26-year-old student who was forced to leave Kashmir after a “shoot-on-sight” order was issued against his father, says, “I have many friends who have been arrested or killed,” describing a neighbor of his who died after being struck by a tear gas canister during a protest. “They’re called security forces but really it’s them the people need security from,” he says, referring to the thousands of Indian soldiers stationed in Kashmir. Good writing here.
Indian security forces in Kashmir operate under the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a law passed in 1990 by the Indian parliament that grants the military a wide leeway in fighting what New Delhi portrays as a Pakistan-backed guerilla war. The AFSPA allows for warrantless searches and random arrests, and it grants security forces the freedom to fire on Kashmiris who congregate in large groups even when there are no weapons present. The Act has been forcefully criticized by human rights groups and average Kashmiris alike, who claim it has enabled soldiers to abuse civilians without fear of repercussion.
Aamir Bashir, a 26-year-old student who left Srinagar to study in New Delhi, said soldiers operating under the AFSPA rules operate with impunity. “We had these crackdowns happening in Srinagar,” he said, “and one day they came to search my house. A soldier grabbed me and said, ‘now show me who’s hiding in the house.’ I knew there wasn’t anyone there but I had this irrational fear they’d find someone and I’d be shot.” He says that although he lives in Delhi, he still feels compelled to bring his identification card with him wherever he goes due to his experiences being repeatedly stopped and harassed by soldiers in Srinagar.
For Bashir’s generation of Kashmiris, frustrating and dangerous run-ins with Indian troops are part of life in the valley, and they fuel the simmering anger towards India. Din believes that last summer’s demonstrations were a watershed event for Kashmir, saying, “[It] was one of the largest, most historic protests in Kashmiri history. The youth were mobilized in a way we’d never seen in Kashmir. It was very similar to what you’re seeing in Egypt and Tunisia.” As in Egypt, the Internet has been a tool used by tech-savvy young activists, and groups such as the World Kashmiri Students Association maintain Facebook pages that send out updates on demonstrations and gatherings. This can, however, be risky, and Thakur tells of “special task forces that check IP addresses and arrest the people who run those pages.”
A common sentiment among young Kashmiris is that there is a global double standard regarding the conflict. While the West is quick to point out and condemn the oppressive policies of regimes in Iran and China, in Kashmir similar tactics are met with silence. Thakur is angry at this hypocrisy, saying, “Where has the world been in terms of listening to what the Kashmiris are demanding? They support the people of Egypt and Iran, but not Kashmir. Why not? What’s wrong with Kashmir?” He describes the international community as “indifferent” to the abuses that occur in the region and expresses frustration at Western media outlets that he feels either ignore Kashmir or provide shallow coverage of the conflict.
Din, Thakur, and Bashir all share a cynical view on India’s ability to repair its ties with Kashmiris, and they expect that protests will resume in the spring. “The anger level is so high, with so many people killed recently. There’s no trust anymore,” Din says. There is, however, a sense that ordinary Kashmiris are unwilling to accept Indian policies in the region, and Thakur says he is inspired by the “courageous element that I’ve seen recently, where people aren’t scared any more about the consequences of speaking out.” Bashir agrees, “Kashmiris do not want to be suppressed anymore. People are going mad.”
Much of the world watched the popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia with a sense of inspiration and hope, but it remains to be seen whether the success of those uprisings can be duplicated elsewhere. In Kashmir, protestors face a difficult battle. India continues to view the conflict through its historic rivalry with Pakistan, and security forces have shown that they are willing to use extreme violence to control unrest. Kashmiris, however, have proven to be resilient, and if the past few years are any predictor of what will happen next, New Delhi can expect intense, passionate protests in the region again this summer.
When asked what young Kashmiris hope to gain from participating in these dangerous protests, where death or long stays in jail are frequent, Thakur says, “The common demand is freedom. I have friends in Kashmir who are my age, and when you ask them how old they are they say that they are twelve. If you ask them, ‘How did you calculate that,’ they will explain to you that they have spent over half their lives inside under the curfew, unable to be free in their own land. We want the same rights that the people of the UK, France, and America have.”