as i made my way towards the front gate where this fair looking young chap was standing, i didn’t need a second guess to figure him out... And neither did he bother to rethink when he asked me in all his intrigue: “are you kashmiri !?” in his anxiety he scrambled with the pile load of papers he was carrying...and as he tried to reason out in his broken English, i told him it would make more sense to have this conversation in Urdu... almost instantly his face lit up...
“You’re Muslim!”
“Affirmative”
Out comes the voter’s ID and Vishal Kaul turns out to be Irshad Mohammed....
“if you didn’t have it earlier, now you certainly have my attention!”
He begs pardon and tries to soothe me down
“we desperately need help...and as it is hailing from Kashmir puts us under the suspect banner...so the best we can do to ensure success is to fake a name”
“That’s that!...i would rather come to your camp to verify now!...seeing it firsthand is my way of going about it”
“ Some weeks later find me getting off at the shastri park metro station...there are some areas in Delhi that give me the jitters!..and this would fit the first of that order! The rickshaw drops me at this over bridge...all water bodies going through the city are sewers...no exceptions!...but imagine a settlement..or more correctly, rehabilitation of around 500 families to be at the banks of it!...
“sir please, avoid taking photographs everywhere...the people here are not really akin to it ...i shall guide you through the area” 
Irshad’s village (all the human habitants of which are here now), in Shopian district, Jammu & Kashmir saw major infiltration three months ago by militants...followed by the army hot on their trail....caught in the deadlock between the two armed forces, they had no choice but to succumb to the government’s cheap bargain of this temporary resettlement in the capital. In an incident that left him deranged, all four limbs in Irshad’s body were riddled with pellets that emanated from three grenades as he tried to shield his body and face. Under the warm Delhi sunof March, his body often gives away the side-effects....his limbs and neck swell up making him stammer and stutter as he tries in vain to match that conviction of an English honours graduate from Kashmir university where he studied.... And it doesn’t end at Irshad...most people who reside here are well to do...some have bakeries, some cloth merchants, pastoralists and the like. Some even have four wheelers to their credit that lie waste in garages now as they weren’t given sufficient time to pack or adequate places to live ... 
There is constant shortage of rations and basic necessities...the flour and rice is of very low quality and adulterated...the makeshift provisions’ store is worse than that of a village.. 
One look at the only source of water, a hand pump, followed by a look on the other extreme at the nullah, was discouraging enough to decline a glass of water that was offered! 
The women in the area are constantly under the pressure to stay put as the area around them is low standard and festers with vagabonds and goons...the men are forced to keep guard at the outskirts in the night... 
The last things on their minds are the civic amenities at their disposal....that on a very inclusive and comprehensive note is absolutely ABYSMAL! 
Convention in India has it- that the commoner...repressed, deprived, destitute or exiled would always be reluctant to get photographed... “sorry...we don’t wish to rouse the ire of the Indian government” “what good did photographs do when we were ousted from the place where we lived for centuries?” “we lived a humble life...though not fast tracked and of a higher order as yours, a comfortable living it was...then suddenly we become the centre of focus..literally and otherwise....where were the cameras when our kith and kin were gunned down in front of us!?” the deduction is simple- they would rather be ‘unnoticed’ than ‘unfettered’! as Irshad keeps a nervous look out, keeping his condition in mind, i suggest that we sit down under the shade...and lighting up a cigarette give him a verbal counter to all the taunts, queries and insubordination we had encountered Kashmir is, very realistically speaking, geographically at a very strategic and vulnerable area...it is manned by forces and terror elements alike across both the borders...and due to its topography, it is often difficult to patrol and keep check of... Yes the jawaans serving in the Indian army are not primed for perfection...the idealist’s image of a chivalrous and brave army man is far from the bitter truth... But neither does the freedom fighter aka militant help in putting an end to the worry now does he?! It isn’t the government is not at fault...nor are the other people in the country who you call ‘Indians’...nor are you as well...for living in the valley!... Yes!, it does boil down to this!...because that is why you’re, quite involuntarily facing what you are!.... WE out HERE are trying to contemplate a LOGICAL SOULTION! By getting photographed, you would just reach out to the better, more powerful sections of the society who would sympathize and reach out to intervene on your behalf to fight the government’s inadequacy and inefficiency. No one could’ve possibly had the wildest idea that a holocaust would overrun you village! No one can conceive disasters...we all work on a futuristic note to prevent them and to comfort those affected Again a bullet doesn’t differentiate between the enemy and a non-combatant...deliberate or by mistake, the loss of life is irreparable...and as much as one ought to agree to misfortune, one should always vow to ensure justice is served...to themselves and to others like them.... And on this final note, believe it or not, WE ARE trying to help...to make people take notice of these tragedies...to act and react is something that the powerful have at their advantage... By isolating yourself from the rest of the nation, you are just depriving yourselves from our services and assistance... You pointed your finger out at me as if in accusation of being an Indian...so you also have reason enough to believe me- It’s not too bad to be a part of this country! 
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