Kashmir -- In a Very Hard Place

SRINAGAR: Kashmiris are falling sick with young people reporting blood pressure, panic attacks and deep anxiety. "We do not sleep at nights as we do not know who will enter our house, the soldiers or the militants. We are not safe inside, and definitely not outside" said a young man who was perfectly healthy but is now suffering from anxiety and heightened blood pressure. 80 days of the lockdown has been tough, with the militants also now exercising influence over the ordinary Kashmiri's movements and activities along with the troops who have been positioned ---one to every 11 Kashmiris are the figures being quoted---since early August.

The government first ignored the apple harvests, with Kashmiri orchards overhanging with ripened and rotting fruit. But now shortly after it moved to collect some of the produce, a truck driver and a helper were shot dead by gunmen in the Shopian district of south Kashmir. A trader was also critically injured. This comes amidst reports that there is pressure on the apple growers not to sell their stock to government agencies.

The Citizen Photographer BASIT ZARGAR sends the following photographs of the apple harvest and the attack on the truckers at Shopian today: