Kashmir Living, by Zishaan Akbar Latif

IPA PROJECTS 14 Comments

My account of Kashmir is not conflict driven but irony driven. What I read is not what I almost saw or experienced.

What I experienced was far more impactful than the misconstrued and misleading bits of news I got to read or see in the ‘safer’ parts of India. What I experienced hands-on was important to understand the ground realities of a land torn between 2 egoistic countries calling this magnificent stretch of land an “integral” part of ones country without really providing its people the elementary necessities of choice and a voice to express their need for an education, a secure job and freedom to live with dignity.

Kashmiri people have witnessed a drastic change in Kashmir’s famed landscape, from a beautiful land, Kashmir has transformed into a huge military playground, with hundreds of Indian military bunkers springing up in almost every village and town.

What adds to Kashmir’s anguish?
  1. India –Pakistan separation in 1947.
  2. 1965 War between India and Pakistan.
  3. 1971 War between India and Pakistan.
  4. The birth of insurgency and militancy in 1989.
  5. Famous 1999 Kargil war between India and Pakistan.
  6. A massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake that levelled the border areas of Kashmir centered at Pakistan occupied Kashmir and in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) near the city of Muzaffarabad on the Pakistan side and Uri in the Baramulla district on the Indian side killing close to 1,400 people in Jammu and Kashmir.
Every day Kashmiris struggle to see a new day. Wanting to live, but living is a thrill they hardly experience. They barely survive the daily onslaughts from militants and the backlash from the Indian army.

They continue living in fear…

Photographs & Text: Zishaan Akbar Latif | http://www.zishaanakbarlatif.com

 

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Comments 14

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  11. I enjoyed these pictures. The one with the guy standing in prayer threw the window of his house was really good.

    Rob

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