Street protest and what to do if you get stuck in one!
Being in Kashmir also brings in a new style of street protests, usually never seen so often in other parts of the country. Kashmir is unique in multiple ways, and this is just one of them :)
This was not my first time experience with protests in the valley. In 2006, I got stuck right in the middle of militant firing in Srinagar...I had to hide in a shawl shop for a couple of hours before things calmed down outside. I used to have a video of me running with the crowd, unfortunately it's lost now. That was a serious incident, and was covered extensively in the local media. Things were also a little different back then...
However, this time the issue was lot more local. It was basically a fight between two villages, wherein one village had cut off water and electricity to the other one (or so the protesters told me). So the road was essentially blocked from morning till late afternoon. The villagers wasted the local MLA to come and talk to them (I am not sure if he did though). By the time we left the city, the blockade was already over and roads had cleared out.
Tips:
My experience from the valley says that such incidents should not worry one much, it's a part of life there and nothing to be afraid of. Just be nice and respect people's right to protest and bring forward their legitimate concerns. You will surely be absolutely safe :)
Also protests are not against the tourists, but almost always against the authorities. A tourist need not worry, they will not be harmed.
A protest is a protest, whether its in Kashmir or in any other part of the country. Do as you would anywhere else :)
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| There was a lot of noise, lots of slogans and chest thumping! |
We had finished rafting at Pahalgam and were waiting for our car when we realised that the roads were blocked by protesters and no vehicular movement was possible on the Pahalgam-Anantnag road. I was very curious and so I decided to walk right into the centre of the protests and understand what the issue really was. The rest of the tourists were apprehensive about interacting with the villagers and were just silent observers, waiting for the road to open :) Since I was already accepted as a Kashmiri (unless I opened my mouth), I though I would try my luck!
This was not my first time experience with protests in the valley. In 2006, I got stuck right in the middle of militant firing in Srinagar...I had to hide in a shawl shop for a couple of hours before things calmed down outside. I used to have a video of me running with the crowd, unfortunately it's lost now. That was a serious incident, and was covered extensively in the local media. Things were also a little different back then...
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| A rather sincere plea... |
However, this time the issue was lot more local. It was basically a fight between two villages, wherein one village had cut off water and electricity to the other one (or so the protesters told me). So the road was essentially blocked from morning till late afternoon. The villagers wasted the local MLA to come and talk to them (I am not sure if he did though). By the time we left the city, the blockade was already over and roads had cleared out.
Tips:
My experience from the valley says that such incidents should not worry one much, it's a part of life there and nothing to be afraid of. Just be nice and respect people's right to protest and bring forward their legitimate concerns. You will surely be absolutely safe :)
Also protests are not against the tourists, but almost always against the authorities. A tourist need not worry, they will not be harmed.
A protest is a protest, whether its in Kashmir or in any other part of the country. Do as you would anywhere else :)
 |
| An old man taking a smoke break from protests... |
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