Kashmir unrest: Living through turmoil but dreaming of freedom

A young engineer tries to keep it together amid the chaos

ISLAMABAD: Seconds stretch to a lifetime for those living under constant strife and a dread of impending bad news.

It has been over a month that many locals in the Indian-held Kashmir are confined to their homes with limited or no connectivity.

Death has reduced names to statistics, several have been maimed and the injured are still struggling to survive.



It is under these uncertain times that Faheem*, a young civil engineer, is getting through his days, watching the turmoil unfold and living through it. “Conflict has a capability of keeping you busy with nothing,” he said in an interview with The Express Tribune conducted via email and Whatsapp.

A site engineer at a private company in northern Kashmir, he is a hobbyist traveller and photographer, in love with the mountains. The area of North Kashmir, where Faheem* lives, has been officially handed over to the army. “Actually, unofficially, the whole Kashmir is under them.”

At least 60 people have been killed, 200 have lost their eyesight and over 5,000 injured. “What can be worse than this?” he lamented. “This is genocide that is being carried out by India to trample a legitimate full-fledged uprising where every Kashmiri is directly or indirectly fighting for the right to self-determination from every nook and corner of the region.”

The Indian aggression, time and again, has not only killed and maimed people, but has had a profoundly negative and traumatic effect on the minds of the locals. “A significant number of the population suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.”



He said that while women are always more vulnerable in any conflict zone, in his area, they have suffered enormously during all these years, yet that has not stopped them from being an important part of the struggle.

“They have come out in large numbers to protest against the Indian occupation and this time around, there have been ‘women only’ protests as well,” he said. Other than that, they are nursing the wounded, teaching pupils in their homes and taking care of all other household chores.

“We are very thankful to the people throughout the world especially in Pakistan who have come out and spoken about the pain and suffering of Kashmiris but that has not been enough as India has not stopped the killings.”

According to Faheem*, the curfew is impacting everyone in every possible way. “This is not only the curfew on streets that affects everyone, but the ‘E-curfew’ as well. Internet services have been snapped and the outgoing of prepaid cellular SIM cards has been barred, which means we cannot call anyone. But people understand that these curfews and restrictions will still be there until the larger issue of Kashmir is resolved so people here are more worried about the freedom from India.”



Despite having multiple opportunities to leave over the last two years, Faheem* has preferred to stay back. “I do not have any specific future plans, I am just waiting for realising my dream of waking up to a beautifully-peaceful morning in freed Kashmir to come true, where there is no pain and suffering,” he said.
*Name has been changed to protect identity

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2016.