Tumult and Tradegy
Kashmir in War and Peace
Daanish Bin Nabi
Kashmir history is incomplete
without Lal Chowk (Red Square). If Kashmir is the body, then
From early age, Wani was
interested in books and newspaper reading. An ardent reader of Urdu literature,
he has an immense knowledge and hold on Urdu. With age though, Wani has
forgotten many essays, phrases and names of the books and authors. At 73, he
has his own newspaper-cum-book stall that sends many Kashmiris down the memory
lane. Since 1972, he has occupied an area that has its own history — Ganta Ghar opposite the famous Tyndale
Biscoe school.
This is the place where the first
prime minister of free India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, promised plebiscite to
Kashmiris. The promise was never kept.
Wani says Sheikh Abdullah was in
jail when he as a young man came to Lal Chowk to establish his business.
For more than 40 years now, he is
into newspaper business and has been witness to historic events from
Sheikh-Indira Accord to Mufti-Modi Accord to every other government or
anti-government activity that happened in Lal Chowk.
He has witnessed the rush of
tourists, and as he calls it, times of tranquility of 1970s and 1980s, and the brutal
crackdowns of 1990s.
“I still remember the times of
peace in Lal Chowk when all the hotels here ran out of rooms. Tourists used to
sleep on the side of Boulevard,” Wani says.
As per Wani, 1970s and 1980s was
the golden period of Kashmir.
“It was the time of peace and
tranquility,” he says.
Going down the memory lane, Wani
says: “It was fun to have lived those wonderful days. We used to say it proudly
and loudly that we have a small stall in Lal Chowk. At that time, Lal Chowk was
considered to be the crown of Kashmir and Srinagar city was compared to
Switzerland.”
Once buzzing with night life, Kashmir
has no night life now and almost entire city things come to a standstill by 9
pm and other town shut even earlier.
Wani who has witnessed the night
life of Kashmir for more than two decades says, “Entire city used to light up with
Boulevard and Lal Chowk witnessing a tourist boom and houseboats in River
Jhelum would glitter with lights.”
He says there was no fear among the
people and everyone would roam freely during nights.
“I used to close my stall at 12
in the night and would reach home by 1 am or 2 am after hanging out with
friends,” Wani says. “My wife would ask me, ‘Who do you love more, me or the stall?’”
Before the outbreak of militancy,
12 cinema halls were operating in the Valley which included Broadway, Neelam,
Shiraz, Naaz, Palladium, Shah, Firdous, Regal and Khayam, all situated in
Srinagar besides Heewan in Islamabad, Thimaya in Baramulla and Samad Talkies in
the apple town of Sopore.
However, the inception of
militancy led to the closure of cinemas in 1989. After closure, most of the
cinemas were occupied by Army, BSF and CRPF.
Although not a very ardent fan of
movies, Wani was lured by friends in 19060s to watch movies at Palladium
cinema.
“The first film of my life was
Shami Kapoor’s Junglee,” he says.
By late 1980s, New Delhi’s
dreadful political maneuvering in the political affairs of Kashmir changed
everything. The two main events, which happened, were the political coup of
Farooq Abdullah’s government and the rigging of 1987 assembly election which
set the ball rolling for militancy in Kashmir. By 1989 Kashmiris were up in
arms against New Delhi’s rule.
“Year 1988 changed everything in
Kashmir. There was absolute chaos in entire Kashmir. We had thought that everything
will be normal soon but we were wrong,” Wani says.
During the early years of militancy,
Kashmiri were introduced to a new language of conflict and words like
crackdown, encounter and curfews became common. During this period, people had
to face hardships as curfew would remain in place for days together. All the
publication was stopped by the authorities. It was followed by brutal crackdowns
to hunt down militants.
“During the early years of
militancy, my family had to go through lots of hardships as all newspapers were
banned by the then Governor Jaghmohan,” Wani says. “Authorities had to first take
newspaper copies to the Deputy Commissioner’s office to scrutinize the material
before sending it to the print. If there was any objectionable material, it was
edited. This exercise was carried for three months and I had to struggle a lot
to feed my family.”
Gunfights, crackdowns and
arbitrary arrests were a routine and Wani was one amongst those who survived the
brutal years of 1990s.
“Many policemen were killed
during 1990s in front of the main gate of Tyndale Biscoe School. In 1995,
around 4 pm, I was about to close my stall when two policemen were killed by
unknown gunmen at the same spot. I was detained by police and interrogated. I
was released after interrogation at 12 in the night.”
Those who survived arrests and gunfights would become
victims of grenade blasts.
Wani though survived a number of grenade blasts.
“I survived thrice but was badly injured twice. Once
shrapnel pierced by throat and on the second occasion, my leg was injured
badly,” he says.
Once known as ‘Venice of East’, Kashmir has turned into a ‘Beautiful
Prison’. From the hustle and bustle of tourists to the wailing of mothers and
half-widows, Kashmir has seen it all.
“I am living last
years of life and have witnessed everything. I am not hopeful that life would
return to Lal Chowk again,” Wani says.
Whether Kashmir continues to plunge into the abyss of
pessimism or regains the zenith of its lost glory, only time will tell.
The author is the Op-ed Editor of Rising
Kashmir. He can be mailed at daanishnabi@gmail.com
