Anger, fear, silence & gloom envelope Valley ahead of Eid

SRINAGAR: Retired government official Laila Jabeen rues not being able to step out and buy a pair of sheep for Eid-ul-Zuha. Buchpora resident Farooq Jan worries about what will happen if his wife misses her dialysis.
Amid the uneasy calm that has descended on Srinagar, emotions simmering behind closed doors over the past few days seem to have reached boiling point.
A doctor at the 300-bed SMHS Hospital said the thought of his patients going without treatment was his only motivation for going to work every day in the middle of a virtual curfew. “I have been reporting for my shift every day with great difficulty. If I don’t come, who will treat my patients? This should not have happened to the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he told TOI.
For Farooq, whose ailing wife needs dialysis every few days, the two “curfew passes” he procured from the deputy commissioner’s office on Thursday guarantee passage through security barricades but not peace of mind. “The staff at the DC’s office were kind enough to give me the passes. But tell me, who wants to live like this?” he said.
Manzor Ahmad, who lives in the Solina neighbourhood of Srinagar, described the atmosphere in the Valley since Sunday as unreal. “Eid-uz-Zuha is just four days away and there is not a hint of anticipation in the air. It is as if the people of J&K have reconciled themselves to not being able to celebrate the festival this year,” he said.
In Laila’s family, the custom is to make an offering of two sheep every Eid-uz-Zuha. “This time, we might not be able to purchase even one and fulfil the religious obligation,” she said. “Kashmiris have faced uncertainty for a long time. But the current situation is something else.”
Stray protests and instances of stone-pelting despite the sheer scale of security deployment have added to the perception that normalcy won’t return anytime soon. While the official word is that the situation is improving and restrictions would be gradually eased, a journalist working for a south India-based newspaper said suspicion and mistrust had seeped into the functioning of the local administration. “I was not issued a curfew pass by the Srinagar district magistrate. On enquiry, I was told by a member of the staff at the DC’s office that they have clear instructions not to issue passes to the media,” he said. More than 400 people, including mainstream political leaders and activists, remain in detention at various places.
In Video:Security measures in Kashmir Valley may be eased for Friday prayers and Eid