Kashmir - Srinagar (Business as Usual/Under Siege)
And it's amazing how quickly the city transforms itself overnight after a curfew is set in place. On the night before the big protest, the faithful gathered in their mosques throughout the city (and the lake) and chanted/sang the whole night. Right after they broke their fast, and all the way to the next morning at 7am.
We couldnt get any sleep!
The streets of Srinagar were deserted, save the numerous army/police blockades and checkpoints every few hundred metres. The situation was so tense, you really could feel it.
I'm used to loaded weapons, but there's a sense of discomfort when their shoved into your face almost everywhere you go.
The civilian airport was 'closed' as the runway had to be resurfaced. We almost didn't made it to Kashmir. So the alternative was an Indian Airforce base (Amantipura). And security was tight as it was anal. We checked into the civilian airport first then were bused (with full military and police escort) to the airbase. I only managed a few quick snaps out of the window, ever fearful of being discovered by the guards, being the coward that I am. Sometimes a small PnS is needed for these circumstances.
The most frightening part was when the bus stopped. We were parked in an area awarming with armed soldiers and just on the outskirts of a small town (I can't remember the name but it looked deserted too). An officer with an AK-47(?) boarded and barked for all of us to close the windows AND the curtains.
Overly dramatic yes.. but the fear I felt at the moment was all too real. Just a week before we came, some youths (including a nine-year-old boy) were killed in clashes with the Indian army. I read something about rubber pellets?
Images of the recent Filipino hostage crisis came flooding into my mind. This coupled with the deserted town was all too Hollywood for me. It was too much. At least if I had a weapon of some sort, I'd had some chance. But no, we were sitting ducks.
What's more, our phones didn't work (not to mention intermittent Internet - I used a 28.8k modem!). But what if anything happened? I couldn't even call my loved ones. It was just too much.
The violence only occured the day after we left. zenhiao is right. I shouldnt be tempting fate and making my guardian angel work overtime.
*news flash*
Indian Kashmir death toll rises to 17
Tue, Sep 14, 2010
AFP
SRINAGAR, India, Sept 14, 2010 (AFP) - The death toll from the bloodiest day of a summer of unrest in Indian Kashmir rose to 17, police said Tuesday after three wounded civilians died in hospital overnight.
Police and paramilitary troops on Monday fired at separatist protesters, who defied curfews and torched a Christian school and other buildings in violence stoked by the desecration of the Koran.
Sixteen civilians died and scores of people were injured after the clashes in the disputed region. One policeman was also killed.
Police officers who declined to be named gave the updated toll to AFP.