Fear, Insecurity create a new minority in Kashmir

A new microscopic minority has come up in the radicalised Kashmir – those who believe in violence-free society and the capabilities of moderate voices.
These people drawn from various walks of life are practically living in dread of their own shadows – they are having hallucinations about the radicalised lot amidst them.
“I came out of my house and I saw three long-bearded men with short trousers and slippers standing outside my house. I was so scared that I stood frozen at my gate. I became unsure of myself,” a resident of Peer Bagh, a posh locality in Srinagar, described how he is incapacitated by fear.
Hundreds of parents have kept ready-to-move-in houses in the winter capital city of Jammu. They have made arrangements for shifting their families to Jammu and admit their children in Jammu schools at a short notice.
More than 16,000 Kashmiri Muslim children are enrolled in Jammu schools. More are preparing for that kind of eventuality.
They are mostly from the upper class or middle class who can afford to shift their families outside the Valley. The poor have no option but to live in the atmosphere of fear and violence. There is no escape for them.
“To be honest, earlier I used to be scared of security forces and their looks while negotiating the concertina wire at checkpoints in the neighbourhood, but now I am equally, rather more, scared of my own people. They may be good people, but the fear has cast a shadow on our lives, particularly after the lynching of Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohammed Ayub Pandith outside the Jamia Masjid on June 21st night,” a teacher shared her fears.
Kashmir has learnt to keep its fears to itself, for giving an expression to them among the locals amounts to treachery. This section feels that they are getting rendered into a minority – the voices of reason and yearning for peace is considered cowardice. That “cowardice” is weighed against the requirements of “sacrifice in the violent atmosphere in the neighbourhood”. That is enough of a tag for being “anti-tehreek” (anti-movement).
Scarier are the ways in which the killing of policemen and lynching were sought to be justified by many in the Valley. This made them wonder how the social and community values have deteriorated amidst them. The feeling of oneness is getting replaced by divisions, which are relished by the perpetrators of violence and disturbances.
This fear was reflected when policemen, top officials and even some of the ministers offered Eid prayers in fortified areas, avoiding crowded places. “It was better to offer prayers at my place with my family rather than go to a mosque. That’s what I do on Fridays,” a senior PDP leader told Kashmir Post. “Prayers should not be interrupted by fear,” he explained.
The June 21st lynching incident has established that killers don’t need weapons, the crowd can kick the life out of their target. Kashmiris are becoming conscious of this.