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Oct 2013 back issue

Watching the Second Hand of the Clock Kashmir

by Ami Vitale

Human rights activist Ben Hecht once wrote: "Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock." Simply put, one news source alone is inadequate to describe the intricate details of the world's crises. To underscore his beliefs, Hecht purchased advertising in New York newspapers alongside stories of Nazi atrocities to better publicize the humanity of Hitler's victims. His headline read: "FOR SALE: 70,000 JEWS AT $50 APIECE - GUARANTEED HUMAN BEINGS". Hecht's words have particular relevance in today's journalism. Over the past decade there has been an explosion in international and intra-national conflict in every major region of the globe. Never before have we had so much access to so much information about so many conflicts, and yet we seem less able to defuse tension than at any time in history. I have experienced firsthand the growing frequency and intensity of human conflict as a photojournalist. Images from Palestine, Kashmir, Kosovo, Angola, among others, have become lingering guests in my psyche. Despite the unprecedented coverage of many of these events, the spread of conflict is accelerating, perhaps a reflection of our species' increasing numbers and surging demands. I firmly believe the role of mainstream media has not yet been fully understood, both in its power to shield the defenseless or to empower an aggressor. The more time I spend in the field, the more I realize that while reporting of these conflicts must continue, so should the stories of ordinary individuals who live extraordinary lives filled with courage, compassion, joy and hope. The role of journalism can't be through just one lens. We must work harder to tell the stories behind the headlines. As a photojournalist, I was deeply affected by the Himalayan region of Kashmir. I wandered into the poetry of Kashmir in November of 2001 and could not let go. Whether trudging through the perfectly etched landscape that included rice fields cascading into valleys like delicately carved staircases, sipping saffron tea in the warmth of a Kashmiri home or being cradled in a wooden shikara, a gondola style boat, on Dal Lake, this place filled me with affection. It took time to understand the motivations of a people and the beauty of their land and culture. It also left scars after living there for more than 4 years, documenting the brutality of humanity and being personally affected by the senseless deaths of close friends and innocent strangers. In Western news accounts, Kashmir is invariably described as an important piece in a longstanding geopolitical puzzle. It's beauty has become a curse as two nations wage war over the small piece of land. India and Pakistan have centered their foreign policies on it, fought wars and encouraged jingoism in their respective media. The result was almost the unthinkable: nuclear war in June of 2002. Although war was narrowly averted, the crisis lingers to this day. Indians insist Kashmir is an integral part of their country and without Kashmir, they could not embrace their secular credentials. Pakistanis say the "K" in Pakistan stands for Kashmir and that they will continue to offer moral and diplomatic support to the separatists. The result is over 80,000 lost lives over the past 20 years, paid mostly by native Kashmiris in a region under siege. Misery is the keystone to Kashmiris' way of life and a new generation overwhelmed by anger, hatred and confusion have come to understand only the language of the gun. With close to 700,000 men in uniform in the Kashmir Valley and an unending death toll listed prominently on the front page of every daily newspaper in Kashmir, its look like a never ending war. I covered this conflict through some of its bloodiest years, living there for four years, documenting its bleakest moments and the human cost of war. I intend to return to convey Kashmir's recent transition away from violent politics to a new kind of a struggle for a just peace and economic rejuvenation. This generous grant will fund my transport, visa and housing for 6 weeks in Kashmir. I intend to illustrate the stories that express the resilience of the people, how an old culture survived a war, and what has changed as a younger, globalized generation has embraced modern education and technologies to communicate their experiences and make life choices. I will tell this story through the lives of people who weren't just bystanders, or victims, but through their example and resilience have come to embody the spirit of the place. I will also illustrate the generational change by introducing younger Kashmiris, who prefer the internet, social media, and protest music to shrines. I intend to create a narrative of the people who have been shaped and changed by this conflict and hope to inspire in others the feelings that Kashmir has given rise to myself, particularly the enduring power of the human spirit.

KASHMIR,INDIA, JULY 29: A Kashmiri boy studying in a madrassa sits on top of a crumbling Moghul mosque and watches his classmates play cricket on a quiet afternoon in Srinagar, the Indian-held summer capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, July 29, 2003. Since the 15th century, the Himalayan kingdom of Kashmir was known for its beauty and serenity. Everyone from Mughal emperors to British colonialists fell in love with its physical beauty. Since 1989, it has been a state under siege, with both India and Pakistan laying claim to it. Human rights organizations say more than 80,000 have died in the 13-year-old conflict. The Indian government says 40,000, but whatever the number, it has been mainly Kashmiri residents who have suffered as the two nuclear armed countries fight a proxy war.

A Kashmiri woman watches the famous Sufi Saint from outside his fence in the hope that he will answer some of her prayers and give her spiritual guidance in the village of Sopore, August 19, 2002. Though the majority of Kashmiri people are Muslim, there is also a strong legacy of Sufism in the region. This has created a special brand of Islam throughout the Himalayan area.

SRINGAR,KASHMIR--MAY 1: Kashmiri protesters fight with Indian security forces in the village of Sowtang in Budgam district, outside Srinagar, the Indian administered summer capital of Kashmir, May 1, 2003. Hundreds of Kashmiris were protesting the death of a 17- year-old student, Javed Ahmad Magray, who was allegedly taken from his home in the night by Indian security and killed in cold blood.

KASHMIR,INDIA: A Kashmiri vegetable seller holds a Kashmiri Lotus flower at the early morning market in Dal Lake in Srinagar. There has been less violence in Srinagar since a recent thaw in relations between nuclear-rivals India and Pakistan. More than 38,000 people have died in Indian Kashmir since the eruption of the anti-Indian rebellion in 1989. Human rights groups and separatists put the toll twice as high.

SRINAGAR, KASHMIR,INDIA, MARCH 20, 2004:A Kashmiri man sits inside a police van after he was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir police for protesting with the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian held Jammu and Kashmir state in India, March 20, 2004. At least a dozen people were wounded when police used batons to disperse hundreds of protestors. APDP says more than six thousand people have gone missing since the bloody revolt erupted in Kashmir.

Villagers mourn the death of five people who were killed along with 48 who were injured, when a grenade exploded in the hands of a man who was seeking to extort money from a family in Badgam district of Kashmir, March 10, 2004. Locals said the man was a former militant who was extorting money from villagers and thousands came out to mourn the deaths. Tens of thousands of people have died in Kashmir since the eruption of anti-Indian revolt in the region in 1989. Separatists put the toll at between 80,000 and 100,000.

Indian Border Security Force Officers patrol the picturesque Dal Lake in the summer capital of Srinagar in the Indian held state of Kashmir, February 19, 2002. Once a tourist hotspot, the only visitors to this magnificent landscape these days are Indian soldiers.

MIRHAMA, KASHMIR - SEPT. 21: Relatives of Naz Banu, who was killed during an attack on leading politician Sakina Yatoo, mourn over her body during her funeral in the northern Kashmir town of Mirhama, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2002. At least 11 people were killed and a second abortive bid was made to assassinate a leading woman politician Saturday, just days before a crucial second round of polls in the strife-torn northern Indian state of Jammu-Kashmir.

A Muslim Kashmiri woman sits inside a shop with her children where traditional Islamic veils are made, March 26/02 in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian held Kashmir. The shadowy group, Lashkar-e-Jabbar, also known as Allah's Army sent a letter to a local newspaper saying that Muslim Kashmiri women must adhere to the dress code or face acid attacks beginning on April 1, 2002. The leader of the group also wrote, "if our members see any boy or girl or any illegal couple doing acts of immortality they will be killed there and then".The same group claimed responsiblity for two acid attacks on women in Srinagar last year. Kashmir has been the center of the ongoing dispute between India and Pakistan since the region was partioned when the British left in 1947.