Through long, winding roads, we weave through a wonderland. A place of intense beauty, with wide valleys, rushing rivers and terraced hills. The roads are brimming with hand-painted trucks, slowed only by the occasional herd of goats stopping traffic.
We’re entering Pakistan-administered Kashmir, a disputed borderland at the centre of decades of conflict and at the heart of recent escalating tensions with India.
We’re with the Pakistan army on our way to Muzaffarabad, the provincial capital. Few thought this city would be hit in the recent round of strikes, but it was.
Missiles destroyed Bilal Mosque, the roof’s been ripped off, there’s a vast crater in the floor and a huge hole in the ceiling of the prayer room.
Jameel Akhtar is staring into the distance. His 82-year-old father Muhammad was killed in the strike. But he is able to find comfort amid the rubble.
He says: “We are Muslim. My father was martyred in this attack. That’s honour for us. Revenge against India, that is the duty of our armed forces and government and we have full faith in them.”
The Indian government insist this was a terror site with links to Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist group designated as a “terrorist” organisation by the UN Security Council. But the imam of the mosque, Khursheed Ul Hasan, flatly denies that accusation.
“This is an allegation from their side,” he says. “I’ve been here for 17 years and everybody knows me. I am the leader of this mosque. You can see I’m a normal person. I’m not a terrorist.”
What is striking is how close this mosque is to homes and schools. Across a narrow path, I meet Nimra Safeer who was sleeping next to the mosque when the strike came.
She was hit in the chest with shrapnel and says she now can’t sleep. She is desperate to see her government and New Delhi sit down to talk about the enduring issue that plagues this region.
“Children like me who were attacked, our education system was disturbed,” she tells me. “I want to say to India, whatever your issues, we need to sit down and resolve it. Pakistan wants peace and I want Pakistan to talk on the Kashmir issue.”
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Strongmen, religious nationalism and modern warfare in the mix
But she may be waiting a long time. Islamabad sounds emboldened and hopeful after the recent clashes. But India’s leader Narendra Modi is conceding nothing. He’s made clear he doesn’t want a third party like America trying to mediate and he’s made no commitment to formal talks with Pakistan either.
While the world waits to see what the diplomatic shakedown of this moment is, ordinary people on both sides fear their safety net has slipped, the threat a little deeper, a little closer, a little more dangerous now.
There’s strongmen, religious nationalism and modern warfare in the mix and a fragile truce.
School also damaged in strike
In Muzaffarabad, right opposite the mosque, is a school that was also damaged. Thankfully, the children were at home sleeping. But in the cold light of day, you can see their unease and upset.
“Our school is destroyed,” Fatima tells me, her eyes narrowing as she speaks. “I have so much anger. Because we study here. Our principal built this school. They built it for us. But India destroyed it.”
The recent skirmishes may have abated for now. But with them has come more animosity calcifying in these beautiful mountain ranges.
India has made clear its muscular response is part of a “new normal” when responding to terror. Pakistan sounds like it feels it’s scored a win against the odds. That’s a defiant dynamic that could easily unravel.
Could pressure from a third party like America signal a sudden shift in this enduring conflict? Right now, that seems unlikely. But this week has been full of surprises.
