A PDP leader shouted “Maula Dede PDP…Maula Dede” amid rhythmic claps by his supporters.
Rakib Altaf
SRINAGAR: It first seemed that a sea of people was marching towards Lal Chowk, the heart of Kashmir capital Srinagar, Monday afternoon.
Supporters of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), bearing green flags, dotted the over 1km stretch of road – from the party headquarter near PoloView right up to the clock tower at Lal Chowk.
But when all the groups, each led by one leader atop a vehicle, shouting slogans, converged, it wasn’t hard to count – though the crowd of simple passersby who had stopped for a while did make the gathering seem mammoth.
Over fifteen hundred of frenzied PDP supporters, from various parts of the valley, carried banners reading “We Want Talks Not Tanks” and “Peace Not War”.
It was an obvious reaction by an opposition party to the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s comments that New Delhi should retaliate if Pakistan did not stop violating the ceasefire.
The PDP said the march by its supporters conveyed a message that the people did not want to suffer inevitably by a war between India and Pakistan; that they wanted Peace.
But of course not when it came to NC.
They would do anything to show what they would prefer to call their repugnance – even if it means in the manner ordinary people have protested against pro-India parties like the NC and the PDP itself.
Not That Green
There was this foot stomping – the typical ‘ragdo ragdo’ style of anti-India protestors who strike their heels as if on an Indian flag to show their hatred.
The ragdo ragdo is believed to have been innovated by Masrat Alam, a separatist leader of the hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/lvNK8j_pMfA[/youtube]
But not only the supporters, even a PDP leader shouted “Maula Dede PDP…Maula Dede” amid rhythmic claps by his supporters.
The original is “Maule Dede Azaadi (God bestow us ‘freedom’)”, during protests demanding an end to Indian rule in the state.
It seemed that to attack the NC the PDP tried to pull in the commoners by striking a chord through this style. But all of them were clearly unimpressed.
While this reporter watched all this, a group of shopkeepers was discussing the rally. “They are talking about Indo-Pak war…against Omar Abdullah,” one of them said, amid short bursts of laughter.
“They know if they talk something else, they will be roughed up black and blue,” the other responded.
One PDP supporter even managed to climb a little up the clock tower to thrust in the party flag.
The scene was reminiscent of the 2010 mass uprising when young men, anti-India protestors, would hoist green and white Pakistani flags or plain green flags on the tower.
This flag was also green, but certainly not the green that all the people at Lal Chowk loved.
(The picture and video quality is low as they have been shot using a smartphone)
