On July 16, 2014, a day before we were to return from our visit to Srinagar, we went to see Gulmarg on a hired taxi. We were four – I, my wife Maneesha, Dhananjay Gadre and his wife Sangeeta. We enjoyed our rope-way ride to Gandola and then returned to our waiting taxi to get back to Srinagar. We noticed that our driver was visibly upset. On enquiry he shared with us a disturbing news. He told us that on the same Srinagar-Baramulla road that we were to take for Srinagar and only ten kilometers before the Lal Chawk, an army truck had crushed a civilian car near Noora Hospital that very day (certainly after we must have crossed the place while coming to Gulmarg) making the area very volatile and tense. About six of the commuters were suspected to have died in the incident. He further informed us that locals in the nearby area got agitated, staged a massive anti-army protest, attacked the jawans in the truck and later even clashed with police. He feared that as the area could still be tense, we will have to be careful while our way back.
(http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/clashes-srinagar-north-kashmir-accident/)
We obviously got worried. To confirm the news I searched the internet and facebook and I found the news to be true and his apprehensions valid. However, for all this while, I noticed that our driver repeatedly tried to emphasize that the army crane had 'intentionally' crushed the vehicle to kill the passengers in the car. I read several news related to the incident on the internet but did not find any reference having any scope of such misinterpretation. Nowhere, this kind of conduct by driver of the army vehicle was even hinted. I shared this opinion with our driver and tried to correct him that the incident was reported as an accident everywhere. But he refused to believe us. He was convinced and offered several other incidences wherein he claimed to have witnessed the mindless aggression of Indian army showing no humanitarian considerations towards Kashmiris. He said that he has already received calls from many reliable sources confirming his conclusion. Even after our repeated insistence to see reasons he said that the Indian Army is like that and believed in his conviction that Indian army always felt happy in killing Kashmiris. He said, we only pelt stones but they shoot us dead in return.
I probed further to know that do they fear Indian Army more than the Pakistani Army. “Kashmiris fear none” he replied “we are only in favour of freedom”. I modified my question slightly to know that who do they feel closer, India or Pakistan to which he replied admittedly on the religious lines.
While on our way back, the area looked to have calmed down after the protests. We could see pelted stones everywhere on the road, people cautiously peeping out of their houses, but there was enough police presence and thankfully nothing looked out of control. Inside the car too, the air was heavy. Sangeeta asked the driver finally, “You think that the speeding army crane crashed with the car head-on with a clear intent to kill all those who were sitting inside. You are convinced also because according to you the Indian army enjoys killing Kashmiris. But tell me one thing that isn't this also true that these days there are so many tourists visiting Kashmir and even pilgrims are moving in cars. How could they have ensured that in the crash they would be killing only locals in this accident." She went ahead with "Don't you think that it is improper to attach such motives at least in this accident?” He could not reply to this convincingly. His helplessness and inability to offer arguments in support to his conviction was visible. It looked like that the question worked in initiating the desired thinking process in his mind. And if the doubts were still left, they must have now got eased out after witnessing the way army is carrying out the gigantic and massive relief work unstopped for the past several hours on a scale never heard before in India.
