Panic, rumours over braid chopping
With the rise in number of braid chopping in incidents, panic-stricken womenfolk in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir do not feel even in their homes. Most of the reported incidents have taken place at homes, claim police. The braid choppers, who attack the victims by spraying some chemical on her face and chop her braid with knives, have struck mostly in the early hours of the morning or evening and the continuous incidents have led to formation of vigilante groups.
There have been near daily protests by women in Srinagar against the braid chopping incidents and the women protestors have been publicly displaying their anger against the PDP-BJP government by targeting their ire against Mehbooba Mufti, the first woman chief minister of the State. People are questioning the role of police and administration for not doing enough to prevent such attempts.
Increasingly difficult to find local barbers
In Srinagar, one can hardly find a Kashmiri barber. There are hundreds of barber shops in both uptown and downtown Srinagar but these shops are being manned by the non-locals, mostly from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi. In every locality, there are two or three barber shops but none of them is being managed by a local. The situation is no different in outskirts of Srinagar.
The non-local barbers can now speak Kashmiri, the local language. They talk to the elderly customers, who don’t understand Urdu and Hindi, in broken Kashmiri. With the eruption of militancy in Valley and the changing lifestyle, a majority of young generation Kashmiri barbers have given up their profession while the old ones retired. It left a vacuum, which was happily filled by the non-locals with no complaints whatsoever.
Education is the biggest casualty
For the second consecutive day on Thursday, educational institutions in Srinagar and other parts of the Valley remained closed. The educational institutions were closed by the government in view of the protests called by the separatist leaders. Unfortunately, the education has become the casualty of the politics in Kashmir. The students have been the worst hit by this politics.
It has become a new norm for the PDP-BJP coalition government to close the educational institutions in Srinagar and other parts in case of protests called by the separatists and student groups. Schools and colleges also remain closed during the separatist-sponsored shutdowns. The schools and colleges in Srinagar and most parts of Kashmir had remained closed for over five months last year after killing of 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8, 2016. Some he lessons have not been learnt.
When a concert became controversial
The musical concert by Pakistani singer and music composer Adnan Sami on the banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar on October 7, 2017 was meant to attract tourists to picturesque Kashmir by sending the message that Kashmir is safe for tourists. Adnan began the function by singing Bollywood hit number “Mai sirf tera mehboob... tu meri mehbooba”.
However, entry to the event organised by J&K government and Union Ministry of Home Affairs was restricted to VIPs and their families. Former J&K CM and opposition leader Omar Abdullah took to twitter to express his angst over the empty seats at the event, which did not go well with Sami. The event, instead of serving its purpose, will now remain etched in the memory of twitteratis for the spat between Sami and Abdullah.
Fayaz wani
The author is the correspondent of the New Indian Express in Jammu and Kashmir.
Email: fayazwani123@gmail.com