” I was in the interiors of Kashmir valley. I had a friend, he was a farmer but also an educated lawyer. I used to have great conversations with him. He used to tell me that he wasn’t scared of me, that he wasn’t scared of any army soldier in general. I used to take it as a compliment. One day he told me, that he thought I misunderstood him. He clarified and said that he was scared sometimes, but not of the army, but he was scared of the “others” and this fear made him help the “others”.
He used to tell me, that if the army came to him for information, he would not say anything, even when the uncouth among the forces used foul languages or roughed him up. He would plead ignorance and stay quiet.
But, when it came to the others, they would just blast him or his family off if he didn’t give them information or shelter. He said that he could go into our headquarters and complain in case the army acted funny, the media and human rights activist would just jump to save me, but in the case of the others, he had nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. He said he hoped that I understand his position.
I told him that it was no problem, and asked him to kindly pass the Gustaba (a delectable Kashmiri dish) which was the best I’d ever had. I assured him that I would abuse him and treat him harshly in public. That way the ‘others’ wouldn’t get a whiff of our friendship and he’d be safe. Both of us hid our friendship as a sin, continued to swallow the morsels in silence with constricted throats.
To my simple, small and very un-intellectual mind, this sums up the problem in Kashmir ”
Served the country for 22 years