TERRORISTS NOT TOURISTS page 2
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It was a long and tiring day dodging army checkpoints when we passed the Hazratbal Mosque, the scene of a lengthy siege two weeks later, on the northern outskirts of Srinagar, summer capital of Kashmir, late in the afternoon. A vista opened up of Dal Lake on our left and the road veered right and over a humpy bridge and into a bustling street scene. A noisy crowd of stick waving women, covered head to toe in black chadors completely blocked the street, and were headed directly towards us. Pulling over swiftly to the side, scattering the chickens and stray dogs, a group of children crowded around us yelling "Go, go back, go. The women make strike."
The women of the Kashmir had had enough. This form of street protest the only way to vent their frustrations at the brutal treatment dished out by the Indian Army. Crackdowns, they were called. The Indian Army would miraculously produce an informer, masked to protect his identity, of course, and entire blocks of residential areas would be emptied onto the street and citizens made to walk past the informer for identification. The unlucky suspected militants were then bludgeoned with rifle butts, in front of women and children. Such an event led to the display of frustration before us.
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