main market area in Srinagar City
suddenly when we're shopping for souvenirs here , people gathered for a protest.
our car was parked behind them , so we're stuck here at Regal Lane.
Located within the Press Colony ,
with most of mainstream news offices located here ,
this is the usual place for protests to be held as people can gather much
attention from the news here.
we were quite scared when this happened.
i spoke to J & K Police nearby ( luckily i can speak a little bit of Hindi ) about
our safety. He smiled , and ensured that everything will be alright.
This kind of thing is common in Kashmir
and they are well prepared for it , especially for the safety of the civilians .
when i spoke to the locals , they said that
it was the villagers that are doing the protest.
they told me that a ' higher authority ' is using their village as a ' training ground ' ,
and with that many of the villagers , including children and women were killed
during the ' training session ' .
even the villagers welcomed us near the protest.
they are not acting violent at all , instead they smiled when i approached them
and allow me to ' blend-in ' and see up close what really is happening live ,
without media bias.
a really unforgettable experience for me.
experiencing an ' honest expression ' live , not from far
but within the crowd itself , and not from biased corrupted media.
the road is not closed and people can come and go to see what happening.
one of the victim from the village with amputated arms
its sad to see in such a beautiful place , people are struggling
and fighting for their rights.
all they wanted is just media attention , not violence.
our car driver negotiated with the police and told them that we have to go to the
airport immediately. after about 1-2 hours , the villagers considered our request and
paused the protest for a while , allowing our car
to pass through before continuing the protest.
it was a peaceful protest , with no violence at all.
luckily nothing bad happened to us.
People always warned me about the violence in Kashmir before ,
but from this experience , despite all the media hoaxes ,
i feel that Kashmir is actually a safe place.
Kashmiris are friendly , and police are everywhere to protect us.
protests are frequent , but not as violent as what most media told us.
the J & K police did a good job in controlling the crowd ,
and the crowd co-operated well with no provocations.
meanwhile 2 days before , 2 militants were killed in Srinagar .
Luckily on that day we went to Gulmarg , far form Srinagar area.
nobody knew about this news until we reached back to our hotel in Srinagar.
No civilians injured as they are evacuated safely before the open fire continues.
I now realized that living in a peaceful country is one of the most precious gift
from God ever.
But i don't understand why some people took that for granted.
Kashmir
13 April - 22 April 2014
Day 4 : Srinagar
( disclaimer : this is not a standard article
about safety in Kashmir.
this is a personal opinion based on my 10 days trip.
the facts might be wrong and situations can change.
please be safe when visiting Kashmir. )
