"We want freedom."
- Kashmir Valley

LAL Chowk, at the heart of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir State, seemed deserted on Friday, October 28. With the notorious Kashmir winter around the corner, Lal Chowk should have been teeming with people shopping for winter necessities after Friday prayer.

But all the shops were closed in the majority Muslim town. Instead, there was a heavy military presence on the streets an