Kashmir: Hunting with the hounds and playing with the hare

by Mustafa Khan

There is arcane silence in the Kashmir Valley. It is fraught with the danger that there is some sinister conspiracy of tiring out the enemy by prolonging the lockdown and continuing the stasis of hunting with the wolf and playing with the hare. Or, even worse. After two months of wait and watch they are now tapping slogans, watching raising of flags, monitoring rumours, recording intimidation and scrutinising posters to find out what the mood is there and the direction in which the subterranean movement is turning. Now there is a change in the game when security people don’t have to watch the clock, it is the people who watch the clock all the time. While formerly there was the assurance of Article 35A which had lulled the people to jettison their worries for the future; now the concern is the current issue and its problems: the mudda and the masla.

Despite all the dangers and violence the natives felt: