It is time to talk about the increased vulnerability of civilians in Kashmir, who live in constant danger because their space is encroached by the army and paramilitary forces.
It was 9 at night when a loud explosion suddenly shook the ground. Before I could even understand what had happened, the seven members of my family ducked. My father’s hand pushed my head down on the carpet.
Then the non-stop exchange of bullets and grenades began. The echo of firing between the Indian Army, paramilitary forces and militants in the mountains around wasn’t new to us. But this time, the bullets were hitting the fence of my home. I was in class 11, and the year was 2004.
As the Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman and others debate the encroachment of civilians near army camps in Kashmir, I want to emphasise the increased vulnerability of civilians who live in constant danger because their space is encroached on by army and paramilitary forces.
The Jammu and Kashmir government reported in January that at least 4,30,933 kanals of land in the state have been occupied by camps, posts and bases of various security agencies, including the Army.
The fidayeen militants that night had attacked the headquarters of the 94 Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The paramilitary force was occupying hotels and a plot of government land next to our houses. It was a night-long gunbattle.
That night, the militants first lobbed two grenades from the wall dividing the camp area. They then jumped from there into the government land that had been encroached on and which had been turned into a parking lot for the CRPF.
My grandfather crawled out of the room to climb up the open staircase on the third floor to switch-off the generator, and pull it in. He feared the bullets could hit it, and set our house on fire. I held on to his left foot and refused to let him go. I shivered even as the sweat dripped from my forehead and fell on the carpet. My four-year-old brother closed his eyes tightly and pretended to sleep, because my mother had ordered him to sleep.
“There are soldiers in our compound,” my grandfather whispered.
The sound of bullets was replaced by those of loud explosions. I wondered who would barge into our room to kill us first – the militants or the CRPF.
At 2 a.m. my mother, the bravest of us, picked up the phone to call my uncle, who lives right opposite the main hotel that was being targeted by the militants. He only said two words and hung up: “Sarkari building (government building).” He meant the firing had started from the old structure on the plot of government land.
The CRPF had taken over the government land and a hotel. Four of our hotels were also taken over by the paramilitary forces to gain a vantage position.
My mother switched on the news. The reporters were just a kilometre away. The words “encounter is over” flashed on the screen. It took me two hours to believe the sun had risen, and we were alive.
My grandfather opened the door to ask the soldier. “Aapke jawan sab theek hai na? (Are all your men fine?).” The soldier replied in the affirmative.
That night is etched in my consciousness. It was the night I completely lost my trust in the men in uniform. I don’t trust anyone with a gun. I never look up when I pass a CRPF bunker. Only those who face it know: war is not a remedy.
That night, two militants and two deputy commandants of the CRPF were killed.
We requested the CRPF to vacate our hotels after this episode. The residents in the area made similar demands. The PDP-Congress government, at that time, got the paramilitary forces to vacate some hotels in residential areas. Our request was also accepted in 2005.
Around 45 bunkers of CRPF were removed from different parts of Srinagar after massive unrest broke out in Kashmir. The removal of bunkers was part of the 8-point Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) announced by the Centre in September 2010.
Even today, around 20 hotels continue to be occupied by the paramilitary forces only in Srinagar.
The headquarters of the Indian Army’s Chinar Corps and the largest cantonment area, Badami Bagh, is located less than a kilometre away from the Delhi Public School in Athwajan. The area is a high-security zone, but the school’s buses have to pass through the area daily to get to the city centre and other parts.
Two militants were killed and three soldiers were injured after an encounter broke out at DPS school in Srinagar on June 2017. My cousins study in the same school. They were lucky that the militants sneaked inside the school at 5 PM, after they had left. I don’t have a count of the hundreds of schools, including those in north and south Kashmir, which are more vulnerable because of their proximity to security agencies’ camps and posts.
Even the entrance to the downtown area of Srinagar, which the Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP-BJP government plans to promote as the tourist destination, has a CRPF camp located inside the famed Shiraz cinema hall.
This is freedom of expression and you should try to use this against terrorists too. Not a single word you have minced against terrorists because they are your brothers and those paramilitary and army personnel dying their to save you from evil eyes of Pakistan.