EDIFICE of resistance movement in Shahr-e-Khaas, the Mirwaiz Manzil at Rajouri Kadal will soon do what the neighborhood has been doing for quite some time, to fight smashing of windowpanes allegedly by the paramilitary CRPF. The damaged lot at the historic building will soon be covered with polythene sheets.  
 Some of the glass panes of the house, which has also been the birthplace of Kashmir’s head priest and senior separatist leader Mirwaiz Dr Umar Farooq till the family shifted to Nigeen, were damaged during the summer unrest when frequent roadside clashes were witnessed across the Valley.
 Apart from the residential houses in the congested area, the locals say, the annexe of the Mirwaiz Manzil was allegedly targeted by the troopers during the summer.
 While the locals have got used to of covering the targeted windowpanes with polythene sheets, the wisdom seems to have impressed the Hurriyat leadership as well.
 Insiders say Mirwaiz Umar during his recent short stay at his ancestral home –also the Awami Action Committee headquarters –was apprized about the smashing.
 The issue is understood to have popped up during his meeting with the locals there who asked the cleric to see how the buildings including the Manzil, were targeted during the turmoil.
 The meeting was informed that it was difficult to replace the broken glass panes again and again given the fact that there was no decline in the clashes in the past months.
 “Finally,” as per an insider, “It was resolved better to play safe. Better use polythene as most others do.”
 For the locals like Haji Ghulam Muhammad Hazaar, a staunch supporter of Mirwaiz Umar and his Hurriyat M, polythene sheets have “become a part Shahr-e-Khaas life”.
 “Just look randomly at any of the houses and you won’t find them without polythene cover,” Hazaar adds while pointing towards the damages at a residential house at Rajouri Kadal.
 A college teacher living there quips that the smashing of windowpanes was proving a blessing in disguise for the polythene vendors.
 “On one hand the government has banned use of polythene, and on the other it compelled us to use the same as shield … May be it somehow wants to help the polythene vendors,” he adds.
 Pertinently, for the past over a year, the residents of many City areas particularly the volatile Shahr-e-Khaas have been complaining of frequent smashing of windowpanes by the security forces.
 A mere glance on their houses proves that the damages are true while the start of winter’s chilliest spell–the Chillay Kalan –is forcing them to cover the broken windows.
 While the CRPF has been vehemently denying such charges all along the summer unrest, police too stands by the paramilitary.
 “Not a single glass pane of the Mirwaiz Manzil was ever broken. I am sure. I am confident,” says Shokat Shah a top cop posted in Shahr-e-Khaas.
 “Such damages have always been the handiwork of those who pelt stones on them (security forces) and want to defame them,” he says adding these incidents mostly take place during evenings when the forces are withdrawn from the streets.
 “It has been observed that the miscreants resort to stone pelting in the dark hours only to defame (security forces),” he adds.
 On the other hand not all of the damaged windows use the polythene shield. A JK Bank branch on the Nallah-e-Mar Road, a few furlongs from the Mirwaiz Manzil has sealed the façade windows with hardboard sheets.
 Such a hard cover, however, won’t be feasible for the historic building. Besides its typical architecture of yore, the building has played an important role in the political struggle of Kashmir.
 “It was not only a private residence but a hub of political activities… From struggle against tyrant Maharajas to Sheikh (Muhammad) Abdullah, all were discussed here,” recaps an old City octogenarian.
 In the past 20 years of conflict, the building continued to be the hub of separatist activities. In 1993, the then unified Hurriyat Conference too had transpired at this erstwhile adobe of the clerics.
 As for now, the Mirwaiz Manzil is eyeing on polythene, much like most others do, to counter the chill of harsh Himalayan winter in this trouble-torn region which witnessed a worst of summers earlier this year!

Lastupdate on : Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 21 Dec 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:00:00 IST