Lights Out, Time to hit the road

With Kashmir remaining shut for the past six days and protesters and stone-throwers fighting pitched battles with security forces almost on a daily basis along highways, the common man is adapting to the changed situation as well.
Night and dawn have become the preferred time for the people across Kashmir to negotiate inter-district distances or to visit their distant relatives. Anybody travelling on Kashmir highways during these hours can witness convoys of small private vehicles plying in different directions.
People who have to travel by air usually report at the airport in the wee hours and spend most of the time at Srinagar airport. Lorries and trucks carrying essential items like vegetables and fruits to and from different districts of the Valley can be seen plying during these timings to avoid stone-throwing youth and forces.
During the day, only ambulances can be seen plying on roads as they negotiate all hurdles along the highways. The Kashmir valley continues to remain on the edge following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. Over 1,500 persons have been injured in clashes that erupted following the killing.
To avoid trouble like other people, Ghulam Mohiuddin Bhat, hailing from Handwara in north Kashmir, preferred the morning to reach Baramulla along with his ailing daughter as he could not find a paediatrician in his hometown.
“My daughter was not feeling well. I could not muster the courage to travel during the day. I waited the whole night to take my daughter to the doctor early in the morning,” he said.
During the wee hours, private car owners find it easy to fill tanks with petrol or diesel as the stone-throwing youth are usually not around during this time.
“A lot of people prefer visiting petrol pumps early in the morning to avoid protesters. During the day, the pumps are closed,” said a salesman at a filling station in Pattan, pointing to burnt tyres and stones on the adjacent highway, a known stone-throwing spot.
All along the 55-km stretch of the Srinagar-Baramulla national highway, signs of protesters are visible at innumerable spots as one encounters burning tyres, stones, vending carts and wooden logs, the favourite weapons of stone-throwing protesters who rule the roost on this highway the whole day.
The only undeterred lot who do not seem to have changed their routine are morning joggers, mostly women, who can be seen strolling the highway in the wee hours. Despite protests, dozens of women across the Valley hit the roads at dawn to burn extra calories. That is the only comfort in these tense times in Kashmir.