Vendors defy Geelani’s three-day strike call

Hundreds of roadside vendors on Sunday defied hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s announcement to observe a civilian curfew.

Geelani announced the three-day civilian curfew coinciding with Barack Obama’s visit but the vendors decided to defy the diktat and put out their merchandise for sale at Srinagar’s flea market.

“We have seen enough of strikes and curfews in the past four months and we want to feed our families now. We cannot go on forever like this,” a vendor, who identified himself only as Khalid, said.

Khalid said he wanted resolution the Kashmir issue but not by forcing his family to starvation. “There has to be a strategy... any movement that forces the poor into further poverty cannot sustain for too long,” he said.

The sentiments were echoed by many of Khalid’s fellow traders at the Sunday market, but would not speak on record for fear of reprisal from separatist elements.

About 20% of the 5,000 vendors in the Sunday market have decided to defy the separatist diktat. “We do not want to indulge in politics. We are trying to fulfill our basic needs... the separatists have not cared and the government at best has been absent,” Nazir Ahmad (name changed) said.

Asked about the impact of enforcing the strike when Obama is in India, both Khalid and Nazir said the “Kashmiri nation” should stop looking at foreign powers for solutions.