Every Friday afternoon, after prayers, young men on the streets of Srinagar fearlessly throw stones at heavily armed soldiers of the Indian Army. Shops draw down their shutters, the streets empty out and residents in the area avoid even peeping out of their windows. This is the kan-i-jung, or stone pelting, a phenomenon that has become a daily feature since the agitation over the Amarnath land controversy last year. Since that time, some 70 pelters have been killed; seven were killed in June alone, when this writer was in Srinagar.
The kan-i-jung is a way for unarmed youths to show their anger toward what they view as an occupying power, often chasing security forces down the alleyways, chanting slogans for freedom. Suddenly, the troops will position themselves to push the protestors back – that is when the trouble begins. Protestors charge at the band of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, as the uniformed men take cover behind an armoured vehicle and 'the match' starts anew. Both sides pelt each other with stones; when the battle begins to get out of hand for the security personnel, teargas canisters are fired. That does not deter the young boys, however, who run into the by-lanes in an attempt to surround the security personnel, who then resort to teargassing at close range. But the attackers keep engaging them.
During one battle where this writer was present, a masked teenager rushes at one of the armoured vehicles, dubbed the Taj Mahal by the youths, and kicks it, seemingly unmindful of the two gun barrels sticking out of the back door. "This vehicle has been stoned so many times, it is ruined," laughs a protester. The protestors flee to escape the shots fired by the security personnel. A number of people on the street take shelter in someone's house, where a wedding is taking place. Ten minutes later, when the firing stops, everyone steps out to find the soldiers gone. "They'll be back," says a local photojournalist. "They've gone for reinforcement. It's about to turn ugly."
In Kashmir today, the two-decade-old conflict continues to take its toll, especially on the young. Though the insurgency of the 1990s was crushed by Indian forces, the thirst for independence seems to have been seamlessly inherited by the following generation. And they can only vent their anger at the government by pelting stones at the state security forces – the Jammu & Kashmir Police (JKP), the CRPF and the army. Government officials allege that local political leaders, purportedly controlled by Pakistan, are behind the mayhem. But psychiatrist Muadsir Firdosi explains it differently: "For a youth," he says, "his stone is equal to the soldier's bullet." Indeed, boys from all corners of the Kashmir Valley travel to downtown Srinagar specifically to take part in the fierce clashes that take place regularly with the security forces.