On the eve of Eid al-Azha, Srinagar looks like a border town trying to return to life from the ravages of a one-sided war.
There is destruction everywhere — caved-in houses, damaged shops and broken people who are left with only memories of Eids past. This year, there is no Eid fervour in Srinagar.
Ali Mohammad, a fruit seller at Lal Chowk, said he had seen more than 50 Eids in Srinagar, but never one like this. “I have been here since the 1990s when curfews and killings marked this place. I have seen hundreds of encounters here, but Eid was always Eid, bright and happy,” said Mr. Mohammad, standing near his cart full of pears, apples, pomegranates and quinces.
Last Eid, Mohammad earned Rs. 11,000 in two days before the festival. This time, till Sunday afternoon, he barely made Rs. 1,400.
Lal Chowk, the commercial hub of the city, has been reduced to a flea market. All big shops are closed as they are still being cleared of the mud and filth brought in by the floods. In front of the closed shutters stand hawkers selling used jackets, shoes, carpets and socks.
The big bakeries are closed and those open have made only 20 per cent of the sales they are used to during Eid. Inside Ahdoos, one of Srinagar’s oldest and most famous bakery, all but one counter are empty. Queues that stretched metres on to the street on Eid are absent today.
“We prepared nothing special this time. Our shop used to be buzzing with people. This time, there is hardly any crowd,” said Alfaf Hussain Bhat waving his hand around the emptiness of the shop.
Eid al-Azha is the festival of sacrifice. Earlier, Srinagar markets used to be packed with lambs and goats. Days before Eid, people would start buying them for sacrifice on the festival day. This time, there are no herds, no crowds of people. Near Shergarhi, a dozen lambs stand on the roadside and people walk by without taking notice.
“Earlier, we used to buy 40,000-45,000 lambs for Eid and this time we have bought only 20,000. We have slashed the prices too,” said Manzoor Ahmad Kanoon, president of the Wholesale Mutton Dealers’ Association. “People who used to sacrifice lambs earlier will still do it, but there is no fervour anywhere at all,” Mr. Kanoon says.
Leaders of all political parties in Kashmir have called for an austere Eid, but the silence on the streets is not so much of austerity as of shock and numbness.
Goni Khan, a market of bangles, trinkets and dresses, used to overflow with women shoppers earlier. Today, there is only debris of wrecked houses. Stray dogs laze over the rubble.
Away from the silence of Lal Chowk though, the old city in Srinagar’s downtown is buzzing with activity once again. Spared by the floods that wreaked havoc in most parts of the city, the downtown is busier than ever this year.
“Though people on this side are buying sweets, there is something missing in them. Something very important that I can’t seem to tell,” said Danish Majeed, salesman at a bakery near Nowhatta.
