Srinagar - a city of Bunkers

Peerzada Arshad Hamid

Srinagar when seen from a distance is a city with an impressive landscape. Tugged on the Himalayan foothills, its misty lakes have romantic boat house hotels dotted on it and shikaras roving on the placid waters.

It gives the place a heavenly look! However entering this once known 'paradise on earth' is not hassle free. The 18-year-old conflict going on in this region makes its presence felt with every blast and gunfight between militants and Indian Para-military forces engaged in a guerilla war since 1989.

The manifestation of the conflict is writ large in and around the city. This has changed the iconography of city's open space to a large extent.

Security bunkers made up of piled up sand bags became a common sight in Kashmir after 1989 and Srinagar was not an exception. Making the region look like a battlefield these bunkers create an aura of fear.

At many places the sand bunkers later gave way to concrete ones constructed in brick and mortar– a signal that the army is here to stay.

Now there are sand bagged, makeshift metal sheeted, wooden framed bunkers is ubiquitous in Srinagar city. Inside them are the jawans with fingers at the trigger of their automatic rifle and ogling at everyone.

Encroaching the busy roads, outside the bunkers are coils of razor wire having empty whisky and rum bottles dangling from it. They serve as the bottlenecks for the traffic besides creating an ugly landscape.

Of late government decided to remodel the bunkers to make them "presentable" to visiting tourists in Srinagar. In a phased manner the old structures were replaced by new ones, with a beautiful wooden-hut like exteriors and concrete structures or sand bags on the inner side for security.

The construction of each unit cost the state exchequer over rupees 20,000 and first phase investment was around rupees 300,000.

Inside and outside the bunkers the gunmen in combat gear is the authority. These are the points where people are subjected to intense but clumsy frisking in the name of 'security'. Here I-Card merits and the person has to learn the entries whatever in the card by heart. failing of which may prove harmful.


There are instructions, sometimes irritating one's outside the bunkers that read as

Switch off your mobile.

Stop engine.

Get down from vehicle

Prove your identity.

And last but not the least

Sorry for inconvenience.

Paramilitary troopers inside a protected area on the road in Srinagar. Security bunkers made up of piled up sand bags became a common sight in Kashmir after the outbreak of armed rebellion in 1989. Making the region look like a battlefield these bunkers created an aura of fear.

Face lift to the Srinagar City. Last year at some places, sandbagged bunkers were replaced by concrete bunkers with a wooden exterior. Each bunker was constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000.

A sandbagged bunker alongside a road in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. Outside the banker are laid the coils of razor wire. Army and paramilitary bunkers have changed the landscape of Srinagar city and have resulted in shrinking of open space in city.

A picture of a hoarding erected in the year 2002 in Srinagar giving actual distance from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad in Pakistan administered Kashmir. The hoardings were erected by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a political gimmick and today not a single hoarding can be located in public places of Kashmir.

A poster issued by the Indian army some two years back raising some questions about insurgency and bloodshed in Kashmir. The poster also asks people to inform the police station or the nearby army unit, incase they come across some unclaimed parked vehicle.

Despite ban, pornography sells undercover

By Peerzada Arshad Hamid

Non-availability of the pornographic material and the conservative/ religious bent of mind does not allow majority of the people to get fully exposed to pornography, which otherwise directly touches the erotic chords of a person.

The upsurge of 1989 also has a deep impact on the market of pornography here. That was the period when militant outfits in the valley issued diktats pertaining to the closure of wine shops and cinema halls across the valley. Thus automatically saying no to any immorality. Even today one is unable to get the copies of any publication containing pornographic pictures from the newsstands or bookshops.

"Up to 90's we used to sell magazines like Debonair, Chastity, People, Fantasy, etc. These were very good magazines except having some nude pictures. Today we are not selling them, although people ask for the same," says Hilal Ahmad, manager Khan News Agency in Srinagar.

Hilal still remembers when all the magazines with photographs of women were seized by a militant outfit from his stand. That time more than one hundred militant groups were active in the valley.

"Thereafter we stopped the sale of these magazines," he elaborates.

Although with the advent of Internet, going through pornographic matter has become all easy but the valley's cyber cafes have clear instructions pasted on their walls, which reads as, "Pornography is strictly prohibited".

During the year 2000-01, when Internet was a new thing in the valley people used to browse these sites greedily but nowadays only few people access these sites barring teen-agers, who even today are the frequent visitors to these sites.

"I won't allow any one to access these sites in my café. Even couples can not sit together inside the cabin in my Internet café," says Riyaz Ahmad, owner of CNS café, valley's busy and popular Internet café.

"Should you want me to act as a pimp," maintains he, substantiating his disapproval to the people accessing porn sites.
Similar views are shared by the other Internet owners through out the valley saying, "it affects their market."

There have been instances in the past many a times that right wing women's seperatist wing Dukthraan-i-Milat (Daughters of faith) have stormed cyber cafes asking visitors and owners to avoid visiting pornographic sites.

Riyaz now-a-days issues Internet connections via cable to the people interested but his previous argument seems to loose ground. "Earlier I had put a block on all the porn sites but after some time customers complained about problem with some other sites with out naming particular one's. After that I left open all the sites unchecked," he explains.

Despite such restrictions people's curiosity vis-à-vis the porn material seems to be immense, which is reflected by the fact when they are taking the substitutes.

"On an average I sell copies of India Today more than Outlook but whenever Outlook features some bold topics, sales of magazine go high," said Hilal.

Not only this, "Last year I sold 300 copies of India today's Bollywood Special at a price of rupees 25 per copy against the ordinary price of rupees 15 per copy then," he adds.

At the crossroads of all this pornographic VCD's both in english as well as in hindi are also readily available in the market but under the cover. These CD's though not available in the leading stores can be easily purchased or hired from the roadside vendors or small shops selling cassettes and VCD's.

"I sold these VCD to a particular section of people, if I smell some danger I refuse directly thus playing safe, " says a shopkeeper pleading anonymity.

Of late with the coming of Mollie phones passing obscene messages and sending porn clips to one another is a favourite gossip among the users. "Everyday I receive 4-5 such messages from my friends and I pass on the same to others,' says a mobile phone user.

A hoarding outside a two storeyed troops bunker at Lal Chowk, commercial hub of Srinagar city. The hoarding showcasing a trooper outside Hazratbal Mosque and having the text in written in Hindi, praising the role of para-military troopers in violence hit Kashmir. Bunker culture picked up in the Kashmir after insurgency broke out in the region in 1989. Initially troops erected sandbagged bunkers, however, of late construction of concrete bunkers was carried out by the troops across the valley. The bunkers have resulted in shrinking the open space in Srinagar and other parts of valley.

A worn out hoarding atop a commercial complex at Lal Chowk, the commercial hub of Srinagar, endorsing the view of life insurance for safety. The particular hoarding is in total contrast to the hoardings in vogue today.

A roadside stall selling newspapers, news and film magazines in Srinagar. Newsstands in Srinagar are too choosy about selling of magazines. With a blanket ban on selling of some porn magazines, even today one is not able to locate such magazines on the stand.

A view of Lal Chowk, the commercial of Srinagar having sign boards laid in various forms of bazaar art. The collection of colorful sign boards in various bazaar art forms is the unique attraction for pedestrians.

A sign board outside a commercial house selling clothes having Kashmiri art depicted on it, at the busy market of Lal Chowk, the commercial hub of Srinagar.

A burka clad Kashmiri Muslim women walking past a hoarding showcasing popular bollywood star, Rani Mukerjee endorsing a brand of wrist watches. The initiation of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir saw closure of cinema halls and subsequent ban on pasting film posters of Hindi films and bollywood stars. Although Cinema halls are still closed, however, photos and hoardings of film stars have find a place again in open space of Srinagar.

A worn out hoarding atop a shop at Lal Chowk, the commercial hub of Srinagar, endorsing a brand of sewing machine. The particular hoarding erected in early 80’s is in total contrast to the hoardings in vogue today.

A Kashmiri Muslim looks at the roadside hoardings in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The trend of erecting hoardings in the city was initiated last year. Many people say that these hoardings have marred the aesthetics of the city.

Three generations sitting on a bus stop promoting a cellular phone company's brand in Srinagar on a sunny day. With the growing consumerism increased the marketing trend among the business houses in Kashmir, particularly the cellular phone companies. Kashmir turned out to be the heaven for cellular companies with most of the people possessing the cellular phones.

An electric pole having pasted on it the poster of separatist leader and showcasing the women's dress material in the busy market of Srinagar. The initiation of insurgency saw imposition of dress code on the women. The women were asked to wear the veil. The present trend is an indication of the changed atmosphere.

A sharpening contrast. Two buildings built side by side giving an insight of the insurgency ridden Kashmir. The building gutted in an encounter and having bullet marks reminds of the unrest, while as another building showcasing sign boards and housing boutique house is an indication of life struggling amid insurgency. The ruins of the buildings have been aptly termed as the ghosts of insurgency in Kashmir.

A man devoutly looks at the religious iconography available for sale in the Srinagar street. Kashmir is a sufi abode and religion and faith has a unique standing in Kashmir society. Street vendors do brisk sales of the Quaranic verses (taken from Holy Quran) particulary during the holy month of Ramadhan (the Muslim fasting month).

A boy searching poster of his favourite bollywood icon from among the bundle along side a makeshift street art outlet in the busy road of Srinagar. Post insurgency era marked a surge in such outlets selling photos of bollywood stars and religious iconography in Srinagar streets.

Sponsored propaganda at its best. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) a paramilitary force that was assigned to do the job of countering the insurgency in Kashmir have now started indulging in propagating culture to the natives of the land. The hoarding depicts the image a holy shrine of Muqdoom Sahib, a revered Kashmiri saint. Thursdays witness a huge rush to this shrine
In the wake of unrest in the state there has been a surge in the stress disorders among the people in valley. People often throng to such places to get solace healing for their bruised psyche.
People feel culturally invaded by the act of CRPF and often consider the act by CPPF as an intrusion. What made the counterinsurgency force to poke nose in the cultural affairs of Kashmiris is a mystery.

A rusting roadside hoarding by State Resource Centre stressing the importance of education. "Knowledge brings enlightenment" goes the reading on the hoarding. Ironically most of the government run schools in Kashmir don't have proper building and infrastructure for the school going children.

Sponsored propaganda at its best. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) a paramilitary force that was assigned to do the job of countering the insurgency in Kashmir have now started indulging in propagating culture to the natives of the land. The hoarding depicts the image a mystic poetess, whose couplets are recited in the Kashmiri households. People feel culturally invaded by the act of CRPF and often consider the act by CPPF as an intrusion. What made the counterinsurgency force to poke nose in the cultural affairs of Kashmiris is a mystery.

A foreign tourist riding a bicycle and gazing at the roadside hoarding promoting Kashmir as the most preferred destination in 2006. After insurgency tourist arrivals in Kashmir were seen and propagated as a sign of normalacy by the official media. However the year 2006 saw several attacks on tourists resulting in their killing. This year as part of strategy the Department of Tourism has kept the figures confidential. There has been a decline in the tourist arrivals in Kashmir after last year attacks.

A man walks past an intersection of electric poles in Srinagar crowded with posters. While one advocates the role of a mainstream political party, the other asks for observing a protest. Besides this a third one promotes a person having admirable religious linings. After all anyone can use the open space.

A hoarding promoting the image of Jammu and Kashmir Bank in Srinagar . The institute this year changed its old logo and got replaced it from every nook and corner of the city space. Most of the key points and traffic intersections in Srinagar have the hoardings of this institute promoting its image

School children walking past a hoarding promoting cash cards. The hoardings shot into prominence this year after a local advertising company entered into a contract with the Municipal authorities. Prior to this the culture was unknown. Only the multinational companies and established business houses manage to promote their brands and business through these hoardings.