I noticed them while the driver of my Sumo was hurtling through Srinagar’s streets at frightening speed (“Janab, this way you reduce the chances of getting hit by stones” — it worked): Groups of boys no older than seven and eight, carrying plastic assault rifles more than half their height. Only one of them had a slingshot.
We had plunged down a narrow backstreet to avoid a group of stone-throwers. It seemed calm. So, I got off and started chatting with the boys.
What were they playing?
“Azaadi,” said one cherub with pink cheeks.
Why did only one boy have a slingshot?
“He’s CRPF, he’s the traitor (gaddar).”
The context: Apart from teargas, the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) uses slingshots as a non-lethal weapon of choice on the restive streets of the Kashmir Valley. Like so many young children growing up in Kashmir, these boys reflect the violence and ideologies of their lives.
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