By Chris Morris
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"It came as a bit of a shock.
No-one was expecting it."
Professor Noor Ahmad Baba of Kashmir University was as surprised as anyone else when the Kashmir Valley was suddenly rocked last week by what turned into nine days of the biggest Muslim street protests seen in the region for years.
Only when the state government abandoned a controversial plan to transfer land to the trust which runs a Hindu shrine did the demonstrations come to an end.
But they had already become a focus for wider protests about Kashmiri identity.
Who gained from the events of the last two weeks?
Well, Kashmiri separatist parties seem to have discovered a new-found unity. But the notable thing about the protests was that they encompassed Kashmiris of many political persuasions.
'Opportunism'
"People are so frustrated," said Nawaz, a local businessman. "And the only thing they have left to defend is their land. That's why so many people came out and answered the call."
The state government, though, is convinced that the demonstrations were all about political opportunism.
The land transfer, said government minister Abdul Gani Vakil, was only going to be temporary. But when the people protested, the government listened.
"We are going to the people on economic issues," Mr Vakil said.
"The other parties use sentimental and religious issues. We are fighting all these forces, because we want to make Jammu and Kashmir a prosperous state."
And in recent years there have been steps in the right direction. The talk is no longer of insurgency; it's of investment, jobs and career opportunities.
Until the protests were suddenly triggered, the tourist trade was booming.
But Kashmiri separatists insist that that's not enough. And the size of the recent protests suggests that on issues as sensitive as land and identity, plenty of people agree with them.
Solution needed
"Tulip gardens are being inaugurated, football matches are being held, yes all that is happening," said Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, one of Kashmir's main pro-independence politicians.
"But the fact is that unless and until India addresses the sentiment for the resolution of the Kashmir issue I don't think you can have permanent peace in Kashmir."
For now, things have returned to normal in Srinagar. Shops have re-opened, and fuel supplies have been replenished.
But the repercussions of this new phase in Kashmiri protest are still spreading.
Hindu nationalist groups in Jammu, and elsewhere in India, have held angry demonstrations against the state government, accusing it of giving in to separatism.
On Thursday, protesters blocked roads and stopped trains in several Indian states.
The danger is that communal tensions focusing on Kashmir could intensify in the run-up to a series of state and national elections.
'Message to Delhi'
In Kashmir itself, people are wondering what will happen next. Enthusiasm for armed insurgency has long since faded, but demands for political freedom have not.
The outside world often looks at the situation in Kashmir through the prism of the long-running dispute between India and Pakistan, and that is certainly a factor.
But Kashmiris themselves want to have their say. And many of them feel they're being ignored.
"This is a message to Delhi," said Professor Noor Ahmad Baba. "Don't under-estimate the degree of resentment which exists here.
"Just because things are more peaceful now, it doesn't mean the problem of Kashmir has been solved."
(BBC)
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