In the Firing Range

Protests have been quietly simmering in the Khag block of Kashmir's Budgam district for the last six  to seven years. The bone of contention is a piece of land that has been leased out to an amy training camp since 1965. Locals have been demanding that the training camp be shifted as many people have been killed and injured over the last few decades due to the stray bullets and unexploded shells.

Matters reached a head on July 6 this year after a 35-year-old housewife was critically injured by an artillery shell fired by army jawans at the camp. Protesters trooped out on the streets in large numbers sloganeering against the Army and rooting for the removal of the training camp. The resultant clashes with the Army left over 30 protesters, including some women, injured. The violence ended only after civil authorities assured protesters that their demand will be taken up at the highest level.

Social activist Dr Raja Muzaffar told TSI that more than three dozen people have been killed and a similar number are permanently disabled by the shells fired from the training centre. "The training centre must be removed. The land lease is ending in 2014. It must not be extended," he adds. Locals allege that many people, including children, have died due to bursting of unexploded shells. Others add that the presence of an army training centre is also a barrier to the development of this scenic location, which has potential to become a tourist attraction.

While civil authorities want a quick resolution of the problem which leads to at least two to three major public protests every year, Budgam's Deputy Commissioner Khurshid Ahmad Shah says that "shifting an army training camp is not easy". But then, finding solutions to Kashmir's problems has never been a cakewalk.