Life between the curfews in Indian Kashmir
SRINAGAR, India — For much of the summer, Srinagar in Indian Kashmir has been a ghost town: all shops shut, streets deserted, and eerily silent. Until the curfew is lifted for…
SRINAGAR, India — For much of the summer, Srinagar in Indian Kashmir has been a ghost town: all shops shut, streets deserted, and eerily silent. Until the curfew is lifted for just a few hours.Stalls selling fruit spring up on every corner, noisy traffic jams fill the lanes, and residents rush out to buy fresh food, medicines and toys for their children.Srinagar is the summer capital of Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region that has endured more than three months of deadly clashes between security forces and protesters who want Kashmir to be independent from India.To thwart public unrest authorities impose curfews that can last for several days at a time. Anyone caught outside risks being beaten or shot by paramilitary troops and police.Srinagar's one million residents can still be found down back alleys, where men lean in doorways arguing about politics, while their families watch endless television or play cards inside."It's miserable because we are living under military occupation," said Arif Jan, 40, a shopkeeper in Nowhatta district near the town's biggest mosque."My family stocks up on rice and lentils when we can. That is how we live."For Showkat Ahmed, the curfew meant he could only get to his wedding with a special permit and a police escort.Sitting nervously in the back of a red Maruti hatchback decked out in plastic flowers, Ahmed was driven at high speed through the empty town in the middle of the afternoon to meet his bride."The curfew means my sisters can't even make it to my wedding," Ahmed, a 28-year-old shawlmaker, said. "I am worried about my relatives at home and want to get the marriage ceremony over so I can return to them."Normally Kashmiri weddings are night-long affairs with hundreds of guests. But no celebrations had been organised for Ahmed and his new wife. "In the future, I just want a normal life," he said.Shops selling wedding decorations are among the first to open their doors when curfew restrictions are briefly lifted, but business is grim."I have waited 10 days for this place
last modification 2010-09-22 10:45:02
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