Baba Umar
With January 26 just around the corner, people in the city, mostly who are put up in the vicinity of Bakshi Stadium, where the parade is scheduled to come about, have started their preparation. Even if there won’t be any separatists’ call for the complete shutdown, people won’t be indulging themselves out in the streets at least for the moment when the troops will be manning the roads.
“I will be visiting my uncle at Nishat,” says Sheikh Irfan of Magarmal Bagh. Irfan has been visiting his relatives every year on January 25 because this day has snatched a life of one of his family members.
“My brother was dragged out from house and shot dead next day (Jan 26),” recalls Irfan, whose brother Sheikh Yasir was picked up by Rashtriya Rifles in 1993. And till date, the males in the family have developed a practice of leaving their house empty on every Jan 26. “We cannot afford to lose another member,” Irfan says.
And so is the case with other household who are located in the vicinity of Bakshi Stadium. They fear militants might attack on the troops in the stadium and they could be sandwiched in between.
“Even if there won’t be any Hartal call, I won’t open my shop,” Tariq Ahmad says. Ahmad runs a shop in Solina and has been keeping his shutters down since 1989 on these days. “Let them (troops) celebrate their republic day.”
However, there are others who have planned something unusual on the date.“I have bought a new book and I will try to finish it on Jan 26,” says Asiya Khan (name changed on request). “I have heard people telling that ‘In search of Future’ is a nice book, so I will be busy for the day,” adds she.
Parvaiz Ahmad Bhat, owner of Oriental modern sweets says that it has become a trend in Kashmir not to be visible in markets on this day and he too won’t take any risk. “I will go with the people,” he says. And what will masses do? “They will likely remain in their homes till January 27th morning.”
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