It’s not as peaceful as it appears. People have come out but they are enraged. They are only waiting for Eid to pass off peacefully. They feel helpless as they are confined to their homes most of the time. There is a total curfew in South Kashmir, Central and North Kashmir and downtown.
“Earlier some people in Kashmir supported India but now no one does,” says one of the guys we interviewed.
Our team was shooed away from many places with an assumption that we are from Indian media. As we explained to them we are from foreign media, they started interacting with us.
They are not against Indian media, they literally hate Indian media. They say they trust only NDTV.
Fearing attack, our radio colleague interviews with helmet on.
Indian media is accused of not showing the right picture of Kashmir. “Nothing is peaceful here. We are not allowed to speak and Indian media is showing only a fake picture,” says a software engineer.
Another guy said,” India could not change sentiments of Kashmiris in the last 70 years, how do you expect them to do that now! We want freedom and we will continue to fight for that.”
People started stocking essentials as they learnt that more troop were sent in, Amarnath yatra was cancelled and schools had to be shut.
“We knew something wasn’t right on the government’s part. The Governor, Satya Pal Malik lied to us by saying it had nothing to do with articles 370 and 35A. This was a total breach of trust.”
“At this moment, I have stock that will last 8 days, what after that?”
It was not all negative everywhere.
Mohammad Ishaad said he was happy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision because he wants growth. It is time to grill politicians who stashed away money while in power at the cost of growth of Kashmir. “People in Kashmir are not happy but it is important that we welcome this change for our own betterment”.
Mobile and internet service remain suspended. The hotel we stayed in had media facilitation centre set up by the government from where TV channels could broadcast news via satellite.
Development commissioner Shahid Choudhary told us they have made elaborate and foolproof arrangements keeping in view prevailing situation. The district remains in partial curfew and more decisions will be taken after revaluation of the situation. Mobiles services are hoped to be restored soon.
Women soldiers near Shahid Choudhary's residence
The situation on the ground doesn’t seem to be alright. People are in a rage and waiting to vent their pent up anger. We hope nothing untoward happens.
Happy Eid!
