Srinagar: At first light, Gaurav Ram and about thirty of his comrades take a quick breakfast to fuel their day- a couple of puris, aaloo ki sabzi and a mug of hot tea. On a normal day, breakfast is followed by the morning roll call, anywhere between 7-8 am, and is best enjoyed by chit-chatting while seated around tables in the dining hall at their command centre on the outskirts of Srinagar.
But these are tough times in Kashmir. No morning walks or aerobics and no formal roll calls.
Straight to the dining hall from the barracks and then into ‘bunker’ vehicles and one-tonners which have been turned into virtual cage armours to escape stone-pelting en route or while being at the ‘hot spots’.
By 6 or 6.30 am, Ram and others from their 'company' are transported to Batamalloo, categorised by law enforcing authorities as one of the ‘most hazardous’ locations in Srinagar which continued to be under curfew on Sunday after witnessing days of protests and desperate stone-pelting incidents.
The small CRPF convoy-one ‘bunker’ vehicle, three one-tonners and one Gypsy-halts outside the J&K Police Control Room (PCR), about 100 yards from Civil Secretariat, the seat of government.
The men on board dismount and after listening to ‘briefing’ from their assistant commandant (AC) begin vigilantly walking in two lines through labyrinth streets into the heart of Batamalloo, the same place where almost all residential houses were reduced to rubble during the 1965 India-Pakistan war and which had turned into a hotbed of insurgency in early 1990s
They are greeted with pro-azadi slogans and rebellious songs reverberating from mosque loudspeakers.
The other day, local police had confiscated the public address system of a mosque adjacent to an Owaisi-Sufi shrine in Batamallo as was alleged by residents but that did not stop the youth from using the equipment installed at half a dozen other places of worship in the area for the clamour which has now became a regular feature of the unrest triggered by the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahedin commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani only July 8.
“We’re now used to such outcries put out through these amplifiers,” said the AC who refused to divulge his name and, in fact, had removed the optional name plate from his duty wear which is routine one--only the khaki forage cap has been replaced by a battle helmet.
The ‘boys’ under his command are, however, in special combat uniform, are equipped with riot gear and holding assault rifles, pellet and teargas guns. “We’ve strict instruction from the above not to speak to media persons,” informed the AC.
But Ram who with two other jawans is standing at the alleyway opening to Batamaloo’s Recka Chowk agrees to talk on the condition that our photographer who is accompanying this correspondent will not take any photographs of him.
He said that he and five other jawans in the group are from different villages deep inside Uttar Pradesh and the rest from other parts of the country. Ram is posted in the Valley for the past three years “but I’ve never seen such a horrible situation before”.
He said, “The entire population seems to be belligerent and hostile towards us. Even small boys come out in large groups to attack us with stones, bottles, pieces of iron scrap and other missiles and often it becomes very difficult to control the situation and we use the force”.
He also said, “We begin with these (pointing towards a bamboo stick one of his comrades is holding). Then it is tear smoke that is used to quell a mob. The pellet gun is the last option. We’ve not used rifles as yet. Not our entire unit, I tell you.” Smiles- when asked the CRPF jawans are also using slingshots to throw stones at protesters.
He strongly denied the charge that the CRPF personnel are indulging in vandalism at places, breaking into residential houses or damaging their windowpanes, attacking stationary cars and thrashing even the people who are not part of any protests or stone-pelting pastime.
“In fact, it is we people who are at the receiving end most of the time,” Ram said. He and others disclosed that during past couple of weeks there have been instances when they couldn’t get time even to eat biscuits and fried peanuts they carry with them, not to speak about having midday meals.
“They kept us engaged in these bloody exploits whole day,” he said. There are no mobile kitchen vans in use here to cater for timely supply of fresh meals to the jawans out in the field. Tiffins are, however, sent to them usually in one-tonners but when stone-pelting is on and the roads and streets en route are overwhelmed by protesters, the authorities avoid doing it.
“In such situations we survive on water and are able to eat only when we return to our company headquarters which sometimes is around midnight”, Ram said. “Even en route we don’t know when and where stones will rain on us,” he added.
The AC corroborated the tale but said, “What is unfolding around is reminiscent of what we faced in 2010”.
Asked what he thinks is the way out-a workable solution that could ensure happy ending to the turmoil, Ram said, “Yeh aap Commandant Sahib se pochien” (Ask this question to the AC).
The AC suggested one should try to get an answer from ‘netas’. But no political leader including those in power seems to have a convincing one to offer. While leaving, the AC, however, also said, “I told you we have seen this also in 2010. We’re quite confident this too will pass.”
