August 16, 2010
Kashmir: Valley of Tears
SRINAGAR, India (AP) -- More than two decades of brutal warfare between largely Muslim separatist insurgents and largely Hindu Indian troops in this Himalayan region have left Kashmiris exhausted, traumatized and broken. The rate of suicide, once unthinkable in this Islamic society, has gone up 26-fold, from .5 per 100,000 before the insurgency to 13 per 100,000 now, according to Dr. Arshad Hussain, a Kashmiri psychiatrist. Drug abuse is epidemic. Depression, stress and mental illness are rampant. For more than 60 years, the stunning Kashmir valley has been a flashpoint for tensions and wars between rivals India and Pakistan, which both control part of it and lay claim to all of it. Despite the fierce fighting, the tight-knit Muslim families of Kashmir formed a durable safety net. That fell apart when a separatist insurgency erupted in 1989.

Kashmiri protesters shout slogans in Pampore, on the outskirts of Srinagar, India on July 21, 2010. AP / Mukhtar Khan

A Kashmiri woman pleads with police officers to release her relative who was detained allegedly while playing cricket in a park during curfew in Srinagar, India on Friday, July 2, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin

People walk in the halls of the Psychiatric Department of the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Government Hospital in Srinagar, India on Aug. 12, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri

A man sits outside the Psychiatric Department of the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Government Hospital in Srinagar, India Aug. 12, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri

Elderly men sit outside the Psychiatric Department of the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Government Hospital in Srinagar, India on Aug. 12, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri

The daughter of Mohammad Asim, a civilian killed in a protest, cries as she reaches out from inside an ambulance outside a local hospital in Srinagar, India on July 30, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin

Relatives of Iqbal Ahmed Khan, a Kashmiri who died from injuries after police fired weapons during a protest, wail during his funeral procession in Srinagar, India Aug. 4, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin

Kashmiris jostle to get a registration ticket at Government Hospital for Psychiatric Diseases in Srinagar, India on Aug. 12, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri

Kashmiri protesters hit a burning government vehicle after they set it on fire during a protest at Barthana neighborhood in Srinagar, India on Aug. 4, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin

Kashmiris sit outside the Psychiatric Department of the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Government Hospital in Srinagar, India on Aug. 12, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri

Kashmiri muslim protesters shout pro-freedom slogans as they sit on the top of a vehicle, during an anti-India protest, in Srinagar on the first day of Ramadan on August 12, 2010. The fasting month of Ramadan looks set to be one of curfews, protests and hardship for Muslims in Indian Kashmir, which is experiencing a wave of popular unrest directed against Indian rule. AFP/Getty Images / Tauseef Mustafa

Kashmiri protestors shout anti Indian slogans as an unseen Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and chief priest Mirwaiz Umar Farooq leads an anti-India protest march from Kashmir's Jamia Masjid in Srinagar August 13, 2010. Tens of thousands of people participated in an anti-India march led by Farooq, Kashmir's chief cleric and a senior separatist leader. Jamia Masjid, Srinagar's main mosque was thrown open for Friday prayers for the first time after it was shut down for weeks by Indian forces. AFP/Getty Images / Tauseef Mustafa

Kashmiri protesters throw stones towards Indian policemen during an anti-Indian protest, in downtown Srinagar, on August 13, 2010. AFP/Getty Images / Tauseef Mustafa

A masked Kashmiri protester tries to hit a stone thrown at him by paramilitary soldiers with a block of wood, during a protest in Srinagar, India, Friday, Aug. 13, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin

Kashmiri protesters run for cover as Indian paramilitary soldiers chase them during a protest in Srinagar, India, Friday, Aug. 13, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin

Kashmiri protestors shout slogans during a demonstration in Srinagar, India, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri

An Indian paramilitary soldier prepares to fire tear smoke shell towards Kashmiri protestors during a clash in Srinagar, India, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri

An Indian paramilitary soldier, left, hurls back stones on Kashmiri protestors during a clash in Srinagar, India, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri

A Kashmiri Muslim woman walks past a wall painted with graffiti against India during a protest in Srinagar, India, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin

An Indian paramilitary trooper stands guard in front of a graffiti in Srinagar during a curfew in Srinagar on August 9, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / Tauseef Mustafa