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Peace at gunpoint

Mukhtar Ahmadin Srinagar

It was a celebration like none other.

Special. Distinct. Typical of a militancy-hit state.

Or perhaps 'celebration' is the wrong word -- you don't celebrate inside closed rooms and behind barricaded windows. You don't celebrate with hundreds of armed security personnel roaming your city, their arms cradling automatic weapons, to cheat you with a semblance of peace.

You don't, can't, celebrate when fear lords your mind. When the air crackles with tension.

As it did on Tuesday, January 26, in Srinagar. As it has been on the last nine occasions.

And so, officials in the valley went through the motions again. Minister for Public Health Ali Mohammad Sagar unfurled the tricolour. To an empty stadium.

Empty, that is, of civilians -- there were contingents of paramilitary and police personnel. Oh yes, they were there, at the Bakshi Stadium, to salute the flag. They were there to solemnly escort the rest of the 35-minute function to a peaceful conclusion, to protect it from 'untoward incidents'.

"Republic Day has attained a character of its own in this troubled valley in total contrast to what it used to be a decade ago," a police officer said. "Then, large crowds used to be here early in the morning. I remember once there was heavy snow through the night -- yet, elders and school children made it by morning!"

"People have been prevented from attending the function at gunpoint," thundered Sagar, who arrived at the stadium on Residency Road after a heavily guarded drive through a near-ghost town. "But the fear is receding. The National Conference government is trying hard to usher peace and security in Kashmir."

Mehraj-ud-Din, a fruit-seller, blames the overwhelming security in the city in the past fortnight for the near-zilch civilians at the function.

"I do not say people will throng the stadium as they used to do earlier, but at least they would have felt more secure," he said.

As in previous years, the run-up to the annual event was somewhat painful and unsettling for the citizens of Srinagar, especially those living around Bakshi Stadium. Searches and crackdowns were back again and hundreds of troops had taken up positions in and around the area. Strategic houses were taken over by personnel, and troops were positioned even on snow-clad roofs.

"Yes, we admit this causes some inconvenience. But there is no choice. Security arrangements have to be elaborate. If something happens, you will blame us," a senior police officer said, adding that the army was not used this time around. "People definitely want to come. But fear keeps them away."

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference, as is its practice on such occasions, had called for a hartal (shutdown). "[That no one participated in the celebration] shows the people's determination to take the struggle to its logical conclusion," an APHC spokesman claimed.

The day also marked the first anniversary of the Wandhama massacre in Chief Minister Farooq Abudullah's constituency, Ganderbal. The Pandits, though they have been provided security after the incident, live in fear.

"They have posted special police officers and a few policemen in our villages... But that is not sufficient. We live with our Muslim brothers and they are the ones we trust more than the guards," said Dileep Kumar, a representative of the minority community.

And with that, he vanished into his barricaded house. To 'celebrate' Republic Day.

The Jammu & Kashmir page

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