"The Families Grieving in Kashmir"

The Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley has been beset with violence as Indian security forces confront huge rallies by Kashmiris calling for independence from India. The BBC's Soutik Biswas speaks to families and friends of some of the victims.

In a picture taken on a mobile phone 10 days before his death, 25-year-old Imran Ahmed Wani fixes a shy gaze at the camera with a disarming smile.

As his friends tell it, Imran was an average young Kashmiri man, working hard, playing cricket, and watching Bollywood films.

He also exemplified those in the region's new generation, trying to make the best of opportunities thrown up by a modest economic boom during the years of relative calm since Indian and Pakistan signed a ceasefire in Kashmir.

Imran recently quit his job as a field officer with a mobile telephone service company to work as a building contractor in his hometown, Srinagar, which has seen a frenzied real estate boom.

His sisters were on their way to what looked like promising careers: Aniza, 27, had begun work as an engineer in the irrigation department; and 22-year-old Shabila, was working as an accountant.

In his middle-class Baghibehtab neighbourhood, Imran's big ambition was to finish constructing the family home.

All that was before 13 August, when Imran died, shot in the chest by Indian security forces. He joined some 26 others who were shot dead as the forces battled to restore order in the troubled Muslim majority Kashmir valley.

What began as a reaction to a controversial row over transfer of land to a Hindu trust has now snowballed into a fully-fledged nationalist uprising in the valley.

Comments

Salam

Interesting, these sort of things never make it to the media but I'm not surprised, the show's over for Kashmir, it's actually too late now to make peace. They had chances and they blew it BIG TIME! In simple words, Kashmir has lost its chances for peace.

It IS in the media - I quoted off BBC News.

And why would the Media hype it when not many people care too much about it?

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Yes i know you've got it off BBC, and you're pretty correct there, 'not many people care' about kashmir but is there a reason behind it? or just the shear laziness or are other places of conflict taking up the headlines?

People die everyday. You can only care upto a certain point beyond which people simply become desensitised to the normal suffering of others.

Compare the reactions of those people who use the 24 hour news services to those that don't to a tragedy. IMO the latter will have a much more emotional response.

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Why do I sometimes hear people say that they are from the 'real kashmir' or so-and-so is not a 'true kashmiri'?

Don't just do something! Stand there.

Ya'qub wrote:
Why do I sometimes hear people say that they are from the 'real kashmir' or so-and-so is not a 'true kashmiri'?

Such Kashmiris believe that Kashmir should and is an idependant state, and not part of either pakistan or india

Never heard that, but I would hazard a guess that it is about locations.

"Proper Kashmir" may be from inside the kashmir Valley (in Indian occupied kashmir) and higher up the mountains - the people who also speak the kashmiri language.

Not proper Kashmiri - people from lower down, closer to pakistan border who speak pothawari (Similar to Punjabi/Urdu) - This would be including the world famous Mirpur (which is in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, but close to Pakistan.) - where more than half of all "pakistani's" come from Blum 3

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.